^VW\vv 


■■Mi 

-xi 


r^m^.f  a  ■ 

'C  y|L\ \\\H\  *  *j  ‘"‘. ills  * ^ *  >5pi? 

WFJFT 

f7m 

P?‘ii'  1 S  9m 

l$x  AIM 

ot  ft*  Wwotyrifltf 

PRINCETON,  N.  J.  %  ~ 

Diviiion  \  ,  o  1  (2  . 

Section  F  ^  7 

Shelf. 

Number  _ _ _ _ _ 

■m 


■ 

. 

r 


4 


Pa 

■  ^ 
b,  * 

%*■... 

m  :,  • 


. 

■ 


1 


y 


BEAUTIFUL  LAND 


PALESTINE, 

Historical,  Geographical  and  Pictorial 

DESCRIBED  AND  ILLUSTRATED  AS  IT  WAS  AND  AS  IT  NOW  IS, 

ALONG  THE  LINES  OF 

OUR  SAVIOUR’S  JOURNEYS. 

/ 

BY  JOHN  FULTON,  D.  D.,  LL.D. 


INTRODUCTION  BY  THE 

Rt.  Rev.  HENRY  C.  POTTER,  D.  D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  of  New  York. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  FIFTEEN  MAPS  AND  CHARTS,  OVER  THREE  HUNDRED 
ENGRAVINGS,  AND  A  GRAND  PANORAMA  OF  JERUSALEM. 


NKW  YORK: 

T.  WHITTAKER, 


2  &  3  Bible  House. 


COPYRIGHTED  BY 

JOHN  FULTON. 
1891. 


(Pc HERE  are  few  Christians  who  do  not  sometimes  wish  to 
visit  Palestine,  and  to  many  it  is  the  dream  of  years. 
Every  year  thousands  of  pilgrims  flock  to  the  Holy 
Places ;  but  to  very  few  is  the  pilgrimage  as  profitable 
as  it  might  be.  They  hurry  to  Jerusalem,  follow  their 
guide  with  “Baedeker”  or  “Murray”  in  their  hands, 
spend  a  few  days  of  confused  running  about  from  one 
spot  to  another,  and  make  excursions  in  different  direc¬ 
tions.  They  try  to  see  everything,  and  yet  really  see 
nothing  as  it  should  he  seen,  that  is,  with  the  eye  of 
the  mind,  as  well  as  with  that  of  the  body.  The  end 
is,  that  they  leave  the  Holy  Land  in  a  few  weeks  with 
little  more  than  the  recollection  of  some  striking 
scenery  and  the  after  glow  of  a  few  delightful  emotions. 
A  visit  to  the  Holy  Land  ought  to  be  of  more  perma¬ 
nent  value  than  that. 

To  many  millions  of  Christian  people  who  can  never  visit  Palestine,  the  scenes  of 
sacred  history  are  as  vague  and  misty  and  unreal  as  the  scenes  of  some  fairy  tale. 


VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


Even  preachers  of  the  Gospel  seldom  have  any  clear  visions  of  the  scenes  of  Christ’s 
wonderful  life  and  works.  Few  of  them  could  give  a  plain  and  satisfactory  account  of 
the  topography  of  Jerusalem  to  an  intelligent  Bible  Class,  and  not  one  in  ten  thousand, 
if  he  were  set  down  at  the  Joppa  Gate,  would  be  able  to  find  his  way  without  assist¬ 
ance  to  any  of  the  famous  spots  of  the  Holy  City.  Very  few  indeed  could  give  a 
simple  account  of  our  Lord’s  journeyings  and  the  sacred  scenes  through  which  He 
passed.  The  consequence  is  that  the  most  vivid  of  all  stories,  the  story  of  Jesus,  is 
told  in  a  lifeless  and  unreal  way.  The  pulpit  is  full  of  sentiment  and  learned  exposi¬ 
tions  of  doctrine ;  but  these  are  not  the  Gospel.  “The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,”  according  to  St.  Mark,  is  the  simple  story  of  the  Life  and  Teaching  of  Jesus. 
To  tell  that  story  is  the  true  work  of  the  Christian  preacher ;  to  make  it  live  again 
before  the  eyes  and  sound  with  freshness  in  the  ears  of  men  in  after  ages  is  his  best 
achievement.  Unless  he  sees  it  vividly,  he  cannot  tell  it  vividly;  if  it  is  dim  to  him, 
it  must  be  dimmer  still  to  his  hearers.  So,  the  story  of  the  Gospel  loses  interest.  The 
Bible  is  honored  in  an  abstract  sort  of  way,  but  it  is  not  read;  and  because  “there  is 
no  vision ,”  the  people  are  prepared  to  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  attacks  of  those  who  deny 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel  story. 

Now,  it  would  be  possible  for  travelers  to  the  Holy  Land  to  make  much  more  out 
of  their  journey  than  they  generally  do.  A  journey  to  Palestine  ought  to  include  a 
delightful  course  of  preparation  and  a  careful  retrospection  after  the  actual  pilgrimage. 
When  planning  the  route,  as  every  traveler  does  nowadays,  he  should  ask  himself  such 
questions  as  these:  “When  I  come  to  Joppa,  what  am  I  to  see  there?  What  am  I  to 
remember  ?  What  notable  historical  events  took  place  there  ?  What  celebrated  per¬ 
sons  appear  in  its  history  ?  What  scriptural  characters  are  mentioned  in  connection 
with  it  ?  What  is  the  nature  of  the  country  in  its  neighborhood  ?  How  is  it  situated 
with  respect  to  other  points  of  interest  ?  When  I  start  from  Joppa  to  the  next  stopping 
place  (say  Jerusalem)  how  many  roads  are  there  to  choose  from?  What  points  of 
interest  lie  along  each  of  them  ?  Which  shall  I  take,  and  why  ?”  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  a  traveler  who  had  made  such  studies  as  this  would  enjoy  a  double  pleasure 
when  he  came  to  Joppa  and  would  bring  away  with  him  many  times  as  much  food 
for  happy  recollection  as  the  inconsiderate  traveler  who  makes  a  six- weeks’  rush 
through  the  Holy  Land. 

The  few  wreeks  which  are  usually  given  to  a  “trip  to  Palestine”  are  not  enough 
to  satisfy  one  who  desires  to  know  the  country  as  it  is  connected  with  the  Saviour’s  life ; 
for  it  may  seem  strange,  but  it  is  true,  that  there  is  not  a  single  part  of  Palestine  that 
is  not  connected  with  the  life  of  Jesus.  Most  travelers  visit  only  a  small  part  of  the 
“Beautiful  Land”  of  that  Beautiful  and  Divine  Life,  and  their  recollections  are  seldom 
satisfactory,  because  they  are  so  incomplete. 

An  ideal  way  to  visit  the  Holy  Land  from  end  to  end  would  be  to  follow  the  lines 
of  our  Saviour’s  journeys  so  as  to  connect  every  part  of  it  with  Him;  to  stop  at  every 
place  which  He  certainly  did  visit ;  to  recall  what  He  did  and  said  there ;  and  to  study 
the  country  round  about  it,  so  as  to  be  able  to  imagine  something  of  what  He  must 
have  remembered  and  of  what  He  must  have  foreseen  when  He  was  there. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Vll 


In  a  very  pleasant  way  Palestine  may  be  visited  without  leaving  home.  Some 
years  ago  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  asked  himself,  “  What  do  I  really  know  about  Jeru¬ 
salem  ?  I  am  constantly  talking  of  the  great  events  which  occurred  there,  but  if  I  were 
set  down  in  one  of  its  streets,  what  should  I  really  know  about  the  place?”  It  was 
mortifying  to  him  to  think  how  little  his  book  knowledge  would  be  really  worth  in  such 
a  case ;  and  yet  his  book  knowledge  ought  to  be  worth  something  practical,  since  he  was 
constantly  using  it  in  what  ought  to  be  the  most  practical  sort  of  way.  The  end  was 
that  he  set  about  studying  the  subject  with  all  the  books  he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  but 
he  found  hardly  any  that  was  just  what  he  required.  The  great  work  of  Robinson  was 
too  extensive  for  his  elementary  purpose.  The  invaluable  work  of  Dr.  Thomson  (which 
would  be  twice  as  valuable  if  it  were  cut  down  to  half  the  size  and  systematically  re¬ 
arranged)  he  found  too  erratic  and  discursive.  Barclay’s  “City  of  the  Great  King”  was 
too  restricted  in  its  scope.  “Picturesque  Palestine,”  magnificent  as  it  is,  and  absolutely 
faultless  in  its  wealth  of  illustration,  was  useless  as  a  handbook  or  directory.  One  of 
the  most  helpful  things  he  found  was  Dr.  Hurlbut’s  “Biblical  Geography, ’’but  that,  again, 
was  too  meager.  The  most  practically  useful  was  “Baedeker”  and  “Baedeker”  is  not 
delightful  reading !  Precisely  what  he  wanted  for  his  purpose  he  could  find  nowhere 
in  any  one  book.  Nevertheless,  using  each  and  all  to  the  best  advantage,  he  had  the 
happiness  to  find  after  a  while  that  he  need  no  longer  be  afraid  to  be  set  down  at  the 
gate  of  Jerusalem  without  a  guide  to  tell  him  where  to  go,  since  the  whole  city,  and 
every  famous  place  within  it  and  around  it,  are  now  as  plain  to  his  mind’s  eye  as 
New  York,  or  Philadelphia,  or  Chicago,  or  St.  Louis,  or  New  Orleans;  indeed,  he 
would  not  now  hesitate  to  undertake  a  journey  along  the  lines  of  our  Saviour’s  journeys 
without  a  guide.  He  believes  that  any  person  of  ordinary  intelligence  can,  with  much 
less  labor,  do  as  much.  He  thinks  that  every  preacher  of  the  Gospel  ought  to  be  able 
to  do  as  much,  and  that  every  Bible  class  teacher  ought  to  be  able  to  do  nearly  as 
much.  He  is  satisfied  from  his  own  experience  that  every  Christian  man  who  does 
any  part  of  it  will  find  some  part  of  the  Gospel  story  lit  up  before  his  mind’s  eye  with 
a  new  and  wondrous  light. 

It  is  to  assist  the  pastor,  the  faithful  teacher,  and  the  plain  but  earnest  Christian 
to  appreciate  the  Gospel  story  in  its  sublime  reality  of  place  and  circumstance  that  this 
book  has  been  written. 

In  the  first  chapter  the  traveler  lands  at  Joppa  and  is  initiated  in  the  sights  and 
sounds  of  oriental  cities,  the  devious  ways  of  their  narrow  streets,  their  bazaars,  their 
dogs,  donkeys  and  camels.  The  long  history  of  Joppa  is  sketched  from  the  most  an¬ 
cient  times  down  to  the  present.  Its  scriptural  associations  are  recalled.  The  tradi¬ 
tional  “House  of  Simon  the  Tanner”  is  visited.  Thus  the  method  of  a  profitable  jour¬ 
ney  to  the  Holy  Land  is  practically  traced  from  the  beginning ;  and  for  those  who  can¬ 
not  visit  it  in  person  the  cunning  hand  of  the  engraver  is  employed  in  numerous  illustra¬ 
tions. 

From  Joppa  to  Jerusalem  there  are  two  roads,  and  both  are  traced ;  but  first  a 
rapid  sketch  of  the  physical  features  of  the  whole  country  is  given  with  Major  Bonder’s 
admirable  map  to  aid  the  eye.  •  The  road  by  the  Pass  of  Betli-horon  is,  of  course,  the 


vm 


INTRODUCTION. 


most  interesting,  and  the  three  stirring  battles  of  that  famous  pass  are  described. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  writer  has  made  free  use  of  the  best  work  of  competent  authors, 
introducing  Dean  Stanley’s  magnificent  account  of  the  first  battle  of  Beth-horon. 

In  the  third  chapter,  the  traveler  passes  by  Jerusalem  to  begin  his  real  journey  at 
the  birth-place  of  Jesus  in  Bethlehem.  Near  by  is  the  Tomb  of  Rachel,  with  its  tender 
memories  reaching  back  to  patriarchal  times.  “  The  well  of  Bethlehem  ”  for  whose 
cooling  waters  David  longed  when  his  native  town  was  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  still 
exists,  and  not  far  off  are  the  fields  of  Boaz  in  which  Ruth,  the  Rose  of  Moab,  gleaned. 
In  “the  Shepherd’s  Plain”  the  songs  of  angels  once  broke  on  the  stillness  of  the  “won¬ 
derful  night  ”  on  which,  within  that  town,  the  Prince  of  Peace  was  born.  The  whole 
place  teems  with  history  and  strange  tradition,  much  of  which  is  told  before  the  route  of 
the  Flight  into  Egypt  is  followed  by  the  way  of  Hebron  and  Beersheba. 

The  Flight  occupies  the  fourth  chapter ;  the  fifth  is  given  to  the  first  part  of  the 
Return  from  Egypt  by  “another  way,”  that  is,  by  the  Plains  of  Pliilistia  and  Sharon  to 
Mount  Carmel.  This  chapter  overflows  with  local  recollections  of  the  Philistines,  of 
Samson,  of  David,  of  Elijah,  and  closes  with  Dean  Stanley’s  grand  description  of  the 
slaying  of  the  prophets  of  Baal  and  the  rising  of  the  tempest  in  the  cloud  “like  unto  a 
man’s  hand.” 

The  sixth  chapter  crosses  the  plain  of  many  battles — Esdraelon ;  and  the  names 
of  Barak  and  Deborah — of  Hazor,  Sisera,  and  Jael — of  Gideon,  and  Zeba  and  Zal- 
munna — of  Saul  and  Jonathan — of  the  Witch  of  En-Dor — of  King  Josiah  and 
Pliaraoh-Neeho — and  in  later  times,  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  rise  in  succession  in 
the  history  of  that  bloody  plain.  Beyond  lies  the  early  home  of  Jesus — Nazareth 
— hidden  from  the  turmoil  of  the  world  by  its  surrounding  hills,  yet  enjoying  from 
their  crests  a  grand  view  of  the  land  in  all  directions. 

The  seventh  chapter  follows  the  line  of  the  Journey  to  Jerusalem  which  was  made 
by  the  Holy  Family  down  the  sunken  Ghor  of  the  Jordan,  and  affords  an  opportunity  to 
describe  the  natural  formation  of  that  wonderful  chasm  and  of  its  termination  in  the 
Dead  Sea.  As  the  route  lies  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan,  through  Petrsea,  the 
district  of  Decapolis,  the  land  of  Gilead,  it  recalls  many  a  thrilling  story,  such  as  that  of 
Jephtha  and  his  ill-fated  daughter.  The  place  of  crossing,  which  is  usually  assumed  to 
have  been  Bethabara,  lies  just  below  the  spot  where  Moses  took  his  last  look  at  the 
Promised  Land  which  he  was  not  to  enter. 

In  the  eighth  chapter  the  further  route  of  this  journey  is  followed  from  Gilgal  to 
Jericho,  “the  City  of  Palm  Trees,”  with  its  varied  and  picturesque  history,  its  Fountain 
of  Elisha,  its  neighboring  Mount  Quarantania  (the  traditional  “Mount  of  the  Tempta¬ 
tion”),  and  thence  by  Khan  Hadrur  (the  Inn  of  the  Good  Samaritan),  past  Ain  Hod 
(the  ancient  En-Shemesh),  through  Bethany,  over  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  along  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat  to  the  east  gate  of  the  Holy  City. 

The  ninth  chapter  is  given  to  the  history  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  tenth  to  its  topog¬ 
raphy,  a  most  interesting  subject,  and  including  not  only  much  that  is  picturesque  but 
the  evidence  of  marvelous  engineering,  as  well  in  the  immense  water  supply  which  could 
never  fail  in  the  longest  siege,  as  in  the  military  works  which  so  long  baffled  the  power 
of  Rome. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


The  second  opening  of  the  Gospel  Story  is  at  the  coming  of  John  the  Baptist  preach¬ 
ing  in  the  Wilderness  of  Judea,  to  which,  accordingly,  the  eleventh  chapter  is  given. 
The  description  of  the  dreary  wilderness  and  of  the  Essene  ascetics  of  that  time  is  fol¬ 
lowed  by  an  account  of  its  famous  places,  such  as  Solomon’s  Pools,  the  green  defile  of 
Urtas,  the  royal  stronghold  of  Herodium,  the  villages  of  Elam  and  Tekoah,  the  Cave  of 
Adullam,  the  lovely  site  of  En-gedi,  and  the  fortress  of  Masada,  where  the  last  remnant 
of  the  Jewish  patriots  chose  rather  to  perish  than  submit  to  an  inevitable  fate. 

After  His  baptism  by  John  and  His  subsequent  temptation  in  this  dreary  wilderness, 
Jesus  returned  into  Galilee,  and  the  twelfth  chapter  tells  of  Cana  and  the  marriage  there 
and  of  the  visit  to  Capernaum.  It  describes  the  province  of  Galilee  and  the  rich  plain  of 
Gennesareth,  and  takes  the  reader  round  the  lake  to  visit  every  spot  along  its  shores. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the  whole  work,  full  of  historical  reminiscence, 
abundant  in  illustration  of  incidents  in  the  life  of  Christ,  and  casting  some  light  on 
several  critical  difficulties. 

On  His  return  to  Galilee  after  His  First  Passover  our  Saviour  did  not  take  the 
Jordan  route,  but  went  through  Northern  Judea,  Samaria  and  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon. 
To  the  first  part  of  this  journey  the  thirteenth  chapter  is  devoted.  It  recalls  Anathoth, 
and  the  priestly  city  of  Nob  with  its  terrible  tragedy ;  Gibeah  of  Saul  with  the  slaughter 
of  Agag  by  Samuel,  the  parting  of  Saul  and  the  offended  prophet,  and  the  woeful  story 
of  Rizpali;  Rainah;  Michmashand  Ai  with  its  battle  and  destruction;  the  faithful  march 
of  Sennacherib  along  the  same  route ;  Beeroth ;  Bethel  with  its  long  and  sacred  history ; 
Timnath,  the  home  and  last  resting-place  of  Joshua;  and  Shiloh,  the  ancient  and 
renowned. 

The  fourteenth  chapter  enters  Samaria  and  gives  the  history  of  the  people  called 
Samaritans.  It  describes  the  Shechem  of  the  patriarchs,  and  the  marvelous  fertility  of 
the  plain  in  which  is  Jacob’s  Well ;  the  towering  heights  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim  and  the 
solemn  service  in  which  the  host  of  Israel  assembled  under  Joshua  on  the  mountain  sides 
and  in  the  plain  between,  to  recount  the  blessings  and  curses  of  the  law.  The  history 
of  Shechem  (the  modern  city  of  Nablous)is  given,  and  with  it,  that  of  the  now  small  and 
perishing  sect  of  the  Samaritans ;  and  with  a  rapid  view  of  the  city  of  Samaria,  its 
history  and  traditions,  the  chapter  closes. 

The  next  journey  of  our  Saviour  which  is  traced  is  that  which  He  made  when  “He 
departed  into  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.”  Here  the  story  of  Phoenicia  and  its  great 
cities  comes  in :  Akka,  the  modern  Acre,  Tyre  and  Sidon,  each  extending  from  the  furthest 
bounds  of  history  through  the  Israelitish  period,  the  Roman  period,  the  period  of  the 
Crusades,  and  then  sinking  into  ruin,  from  which  they  are  at  last  slowly  emerging. 

It  was  toward  the  close  of  His  ministry,  in  fact  just  before  its  close,  that  our 
Savior  made  the  journey  into  “the  coasts  of  Caesarea  Philippi”  which  is  followed  in  the 
sixteenth  chapter.  Here  the  line  of  famous  towns  is  traced  which  extended  from  Caper¬ 
naum  to  Laish  or  Dan  along  the  reedy  Lake  Huleh,  the  “Waters  of  Merom.”  Among 
these  towns  are  Edrei,  Hazor  and  Harosheth  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  last  great  battle 
in  Joshua’s  conquest.  North  of  these  are  Kedesli,  Beth-rehob,  Abel  and  Ijon,  all  with 
romantic  histories,  but  none  like  that  of  Laish,  where  the  peaceable  Phoenicians  were 


X 


INTRODUCTION. 


slaughtered  by  the  Danites  and  the  golden  calf  was  set  up  by  the  kings  of  Israel.  All 
along  this  route  the  lofty  peak  of  Mount  Hermon  dominates  the  scene.  At  its  foot  is 
Caesarea,  not  far  from  which,  and  probably  somewhere  among  the  rocks  of  Hermon,  our 
Lord’s  Transfiguration  took  place,  and  it  was'there  that  He  addressed  to  Peter  the  words, 
“Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  will  I  build  my  Church.” 

In  tracing  these  journeys  of  our  Lord  every  part  of  the  Holy  Land  is  visited;  Judea 
in  the  first  five  chapters  and  again  in  the  eighth,  eleventh  and  thirteenth ;  Samaria  in 
the  fifth  and  fourteenth;  Galilee  in  the  sixth,  twelfth  and  fifteenth ;  the  region  beyond 
Jordan  in  the  seventh  and  sixteenth ;  Phoenicia  in  the  sixteenth ;  ancient  Jerusalem  in 
the  ninth  and  tenth. 

Modern  Jerusalem  is  described  with  maps  and  abundant  illustrations  in  the  last 
two  chapters,  the  seventeenth  being  devoted  to  Jerusalem  without  the  walls,  and  the 
eighteenth  to  Jerusalem  within  the  walls.  It  is  believed  that  any  student  who  will  give 
a  few  hours’  study  to  these  two  chapters  would  find  it  easy  to  make  his  way  to  any  spot 
in  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity. 

The  illustrations  have  been  gathered  from  all  available  sources,  and  the  more 
freely  as  this  book  cannot  come  into  competition  with  any  other  book  on  Palestine. 
It  has  its  special  purpose,  and  it  is  intended  to  supplant  no  other.  If  this  book  shall 
be  studied,  the  author  believes  that  every  book  he  has  used  will  be  all  the  more 
likely  to  be  read  and  appreciated.  Among  the  chief  of  them  are  “Baedeker,”  of  course, 
“Picturesque  Palestine,”  Robinson’s  “Biblical  Researches,”  Thomson’s  “The  Land  and 
the  Book,”  Stanley’s  “Palestine,”  Geikie’s  “Holy  Land,”  and  all  the  works  of  Roberts, 
Bartlett,  Conder,  Tristram,  and  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund.  To  mention  other 
works  in  detail  would  be  only  to  swell  a  list  of  names  which  would  be  useless  to  the 
reader.  For  a  few  illustrations  not  obtainable  elsewhere,  acknowledgments  are 
specially  due  to  an  English  work  entitled  “Those  Holy  Fields.”  The  author’s  aim 
has  been  to  condense  and  apply  to  his  immediate  purpose  whatever  he  could  find  that 
was  available  in  the  works  of  nearly  a  hundred  different  authors  and  scattered  through 
twice  as  many  volumes,  not  many  of  which  are  at  the  command  of  the  ordinary 
student.  If  he  has  succeeded  in  presenting  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  subjects 
clearly  and  simply,  he  has  done  all  that  he  has  had  in  view.  He  makes  no  claim  to 
originality  except  in  the  plan  of  his  work  (which  he  believes  to  be  entirely  new)  and  in 
the  arrangement,  on  that  plan,  of  some  part  of  the  superabundant  material. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

JOPPA. 

The  Mountains  of  Judea.  A  dangerous  coast.  Its  people  and  commerce.  Out¬ 
lying  villages.  The  History  of  Joppa.  Its  interesting  features.  Places  of 
Resort.  Festivities,  Hospitalities.  Modern  Joppa .  25 

CHAPTER  II. 

FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

Physical  Divisions  of  Palestine.  The  Maritime  Plains.  Coast  line.  The  Moun¬ 
tainous  Region.  Its  Physical  features.  The  Valleys  of  the  Rivers.  Its  Dense 
Ancient  Population.  Routes  to  Bethlehem  and  the  Cities.  Its  Historical 
importance.  Great  Battles  fought .  62 

CHAPTER  III. 

BETHLEHEM. 

Its  Antiquity.  Biblical  History.  Description  of  Bethlehem.  The  Well  and  For¬ 
tifications.  The  Nativity.  The  Journey  of  Mary  and  Joseph  from  Nazareth. 
Their  Poverty.  The  Inn.  Legends.  Herod.  The  Wise  Men.  Their  Gifts. 
Astrology.  Modern  Bethlehem.  Population.  Industries .  104 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 

Hebron,  the  Oldest  City  of  the  World.  The  Hittites.  Cave  of  Machpelah.  The 
Patriarchs.  Rabbinical  Tales.  A  Priestly  City  and  a  City  of  Refuge. 
Modern  Hebron.  Its  Trade,  streets,  shops,  and  inhabitants.  Beersheba. 
Historical  association  with  many  Old  Testament  characters.  The  sojourn  in 
Egypt .  136 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 

Herod’s  Death.  The  Route  to  Nazareth.  Through  Philistia.  The  Philistine  Con¬ 
federacy.  Their  Conquests  and  Spread.  Their  History.  Present  Condition. 
Gath.  Vale  of  Elah.  The  Cave  of  Adullam.  The  Plain  of  Sharon.  At 
Caesarea.  Carmel.  El-Maharrakah.  Cave  of  the  School  of  the  Prophets. 
Route  and  Places  Described .  158 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 

Plain  of  Esdraelon.  Its  Mountain  Boundaries.  Harosheth.  Megiddo.  Taanach. 

The  Kishon.  Napoleon  on  the  Plain.  Gilboa.  Endor.  Biblical  History 
and  Characters.  Hill  of  Moreh.  Shunem.  Nain.  Mt.  Tabor.  Physical 
attractions  of  Nazareth.  TheNazarene.  Modern  Nazareth.  The  Childhood 
of  Jesus.  Legends  of  the  Infancy .  187 

CHAPTER  VII. 

FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 

Evangelists  Silent  concerning  the  Childhood  of  Christ.  St.  Luke’s  Incident.  Jew¬ 
ish  Theories  of  Human  Maturity.  The  Passover  Journey.  Songs.  Different 
Routes.  Crossing  of  the  Jordan.  The  Ghor.  Flora  and  Fauna  of  the  Valley. 

Mt.  Gilead.  Shibboleth.  Decapolis.  Gadara.  Shiloh.  Pella.  Mahanaim. 
Geresa.  Peniel.  Beth-nimrah.  Why  called  Bethabara.  Its  Historical  In¬ 
terest.  Mount  Nebo.  The  View  of  Moses.  Cities  of  the  Plains.  Sacredness 
of  the  Jordan .  221 

CHAPTER  VIII.* 

FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 

The  Crossing  of  the  Jordan.  The  Twelve  Stones.  Gilgal.  Historical  Events. 
Kasr-Hajla.  Jericho.  Its  importance.  Mount  Ouarantania.  Its  Caves. 
Ain-Duk.  The  Brook  Cherith.  Robbers  on  the  Road.  Wady-el-Hod.  Ain- 
el-Hod.  Bethany.  Bethpage.  Lepers.  Mary  and  Martha.  Mountains 
and  Valleys  around  Jerusalem.  Its  View  from  the  East.  Entering  Jerusalem.  254 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ANCIENT  JERUSALEM— PHYSICAL  AND  HISTORICAL. 

Object  of  Chapter.  Early  History.  Taken  by  David.  Geographical  Position 
and  Political  Advantages.  The  Kedron.  Hinnom  and  Tyropeon  Valleys. 
Divisions  of  the  Ancient  City.  The  Tabernacle.  Solomon’s  Temple.  Tem¬ 
ple  of  Zerubbabel.  Temple  of  Herod.  History  of  Jerusalem.  Siege  of 
Titus.  Its  Destruction.  Restored  under  Constantine.  Invention  of  the  Cross 
by  Helena.  The  Moslems.  The  Crusaders.  The  Turks .  287 

CHAPTER  X. 

ANCIENT  JERUSALEM— THE  GATES,  WALLS,  ETC. 

The  Walls  of  Ancient  Jerusalem.  Impossible  to  be  Traced.  Question  of  the 
North  Wall.  The  Towers.  Antonia  Described  by  Josephus.  Hippicus  and 
Phasaelus.  David.  Gates.  The  Fountain  Gate.  The  Dung  Gate.  The  Gate 
of  the  Valley.  Water  Supply.  Solomon’s  Pools.  High  Level  Aqueduct. 
Upper  Pool  of  Gihon.  Lower  Pool  of  Gihon.  Pool  of  Siloam.  Northern 
Pool.  Spring  of  the  Virgin.  Job’s  Well.  Pools  within  the  City.  Pool  of 
Hezekiah.  Bethesda.  Uncertainties  of  the  Topography  of  Jerusalem .  315 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 

The  Passover.  Jesus  missed  by  his  Parents.  The  Temple  Schools.  The  Rabbis. 
Jesus  among  the  Doctors.  The  Sects  of  Judea.  The  Wilderness  of  Judea. 
Christian  Hermits.  Herodium.  Valley  of  Urtas.  Etam.  Tekoah.  Wady 
Khureitun.  St.  Chariton.  Cave  of  Adullam.  Engedi.  Masada.  Closing 
Tragedy  of  the  Jewish  War .  343 

CHAPTER  XII. 

BETHABARA.  CANA.  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

Message  of  John.  Baptism  of  Christ.  The  Gospel  of  Jesus.  The  Disciples. 
Cana.  Visit  to  Capernaum.  Tell  Hum.  Ain-Mudawarah.  Ain-et-Tin. 
Bethsaida  of  Galilee.  Sabbath  Superstitions.  Giscala.  Magdala.  Tiberias. 
Detested  by  Jews.  Its  Ancient  Splendor.  Taken  by  Romans  and  Moslems. 
Modern  Tiberias.  Kerak.  Bethsaida  Julias.  The  Five  Thousand.  Plain  of 
Batihah.  Gergesa.  Gamala.  Aphek.  Hippos.  Associations  of  the  Sea 
of  Galilee  with  the  Saviour .  373 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 

First  Passover  of  the  Ministry.  Return  to  Galilee  through  Samaria.  Anathoth. 
Nob.  Gibeah  of  Saul.  Rimmon.  Ophra.  Ai.  Battle  of  Ai.  Advance  of 
Sennacherib  on  Jerusalem.  Ataroth-adar.  Beeroth.  Bethel.  The  Home 
of  the  Patriarchs.  The  Samaritans.  Modern  Beitin.  Gophna.  Shiloh.  Le- 
bonah.  Valuable  Discoveries .  412 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SAMARIA. 

Relative  Position  of  the  Towns  of  Samaria.  Beauty  of  the  District.  Patriarchal 
Times.  Division  of  the  Kingdom.  Tirzah.  Samaria.  Its  Situation  and 
Strength.  Sieges.  Captivity.  Origin  of  the  Samaritans.  Mount  Moriah. 
Legends.  Nablous.  Jesus  at  Sychar.  The  City  of  Samaria.  Tomb  of  John 
the  Prophet.  Ruins  of  Samaria.  Plain  of  Dothan .  441 

CHAPTER  XV. 

TOWNS  OF  GALILEE,  TYRE  AND  SIDON. 

Retrospective.  Galilee.  Kabul.  Fertility  of  the  Province.  Its  Agricultural 
Products  and  Manufactures.  Sepphoris  the  Capital.  The  Castle  Beautiful. 
Jotopata.  Its  Siege  and  Fall.  Accho  the  Port  of  Galilee.  The  Bay  of  Acre. 
Haifa.  The  Kishon.  The  Belus.  Modern  Acre.  The  Ladder  of  Tyre. 
Ras-el  Ain.  The  Syro-Phoenician  Woman.  Tyre.  Immense  and  Varied 
Commerce.  Its  Decline.  Christianity  in  Tyre.  Visit  of  St.  Paul.  The  Cru¬ 
sades.  Desertion  of  Tyre.  Present  Condition.  The  Sidonian  Confederacy. 
Destroyed  by  the  Persians.  Mediaeval  History.  Modern  Saida .  478 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CvESAREA  PHILIPPI. 

The  Cities  of  Decapolis.  Ephphatha.  Routes  to  Caesarea.  From  Bethsaida 
Julias.  From  Capernaum.  Probable  Route  taken.  Description  of  the 
Country.  Lake  Huleh.  Tell-Khureibeh.  Hazor.  Tell  Hareh.  Kedesh. 
Bethrehob.  Laish.  Dan.  Sources  of  the  Jordan.  From  Dan  to  Beersheba. 

Mt.  Hermon.  View  from  its  Summit.  Caesarea  Philippi,  Situation.  Dean 
Stanley’s  Description.  The  Transfiguration .  518 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 

Ruins  of  All  Ages.  Interesting  Excursions  from  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon  to 
Jacob’s  Well.  Road  to  Neby  Samwil.  Down  the  Kidron  Valley.  Around 
the  Walls.  The  Valleys.  The  Gates.  The  Mountains.  The  Adjoining  Vil¬ 
lages.  The  Churches,  etc . 543 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 

Divisions  of  the  City.  The  Gates  and  Streets.  The  Jewish  Quarter.  The  Habits, 
Superstitions  and  Religious  Customs.  The  American  Quarter.  The  Monas¬ 
teries  and  Churches.  The  English  Quarter.  The  Palace  and  Christ  Church. 

The  Mohammedan  Quarter.  The  Stations,  Bazaars  and  Churches.  The 
Christian  Quarter.  Latin  Patriarchate.  Greek  Patriarchate.  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  Mosque  of  Omar.  Throne  of  Solomon  and  its  Legends. 

The  Huldah  Gate.  Conclusions .  598 


CHAPTER  I 


JOPPA. 

The  Approach  to  Joppa — Mountains  of  Judea — The  City  Seen  from  the  Sea — A  Dangerous  Coast — 
The  Basin  and  its  Entrance — The  Landing — A  Ride  through  the  Bazaar  of  Joppa — Houses — 
Lattice  Windows — Dirt  and  Darkness — Porters — Water-Carriers — Donkeys — Camels— Dogs — 
Shops  and  Market  Stalls — Oriental  Trading — Costumes — Tattooing — Latin,  Greek  and  Armen- 
ian  Hospices — A  Noble  Retort — Orchard  Gardens  of  the  Suburb — Fruits — Irrigation — Cactus 
Hedges — The  Plain  of  Sharon — Prospects  of  Improvement— German-American  Colony — The 
German  Temple — Israelitish  Alliance — Fellahin  Villages— History  of  Joppa — Andromeda  and 
Perseus — Remains  of  the  Monster — Joppa  Under  David  and  the  Kings — The  Goddess  Derketo — 
Zerubbabel — Jonah — Our  Saviour’s  Mention  of  Jonah — The  Maccabees— Joppa  under  Pompey, 
Herod,  Archelauo — Joppa  in  the  New  Testament — Tabitha — Simon  the  Tanner — Destruction  of 
Joppa — It  Becomes  a  Nest  of  Pirates — A  Christian  See— Conquered  by  the  Arabs — Joppa  during 
the  Crusades — Modern  Joppa — Sacked  by  the  Arabs  and  Mamelukes — Occupied  by  Bonaparte— 
Fortified  by  the  British — Originally  called  Yapho — Meaning  of  the  Name — Poetry — Present 
Population  and  Commerce — Objects  of  Interest — House  of  Tabitha — House  of  Simon  the  Tanner— 
A  Mohammedan  Tradition — Scripture  Illustrations — City  Gates — Places  of  Resort;  Of  Meeting; 
Of  Consultation;  Of  Preaching;  Of  Contract;  Of  Treaty;  Of  Hospitality;  Of  Judgment;  Of 
Execution;  Of  Observation — The  Gates  a  Pride  to  the  Citizens — Streets  and  Clefts — Lattice 
Windows — Parapets — Pottery;  its  Fragility — Dogs;  Silent  in  the  day;  Their  Noise  at  Night — 
Song-Birds — Chaffering  in  Trade — Tattooing — Gardens  Enclosed — Watered  Gardens — Trees  by 
the  Streams — Watering  with  the  Foot — Fruit  Trees — Fruitfulness — The  Sea — A  Song  of  the 
Sea — No  More  Sea! 


T  IS  fortunate  for  us  that  the  day  on 
which  we  are  to  have  our  first  sight  of 
the  Beautiful  Land  is  bright  and  clear, 
because  we  wish  to  lose  no  impression 
which  rightly  belongs  to  our  approach 
to  the  scene  of  so  many  sacred  events. 
As  the  steamer  plows  its  way  through 
the  smooth  waters  of  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean,  our  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the  east; 
at  length  a  pale  blue  line,  deepening  in  color  as  we  near  it,  rises  over  the 
horizon,  and  our  hearts  throb  with  pleasure  and  expectancy  when  we  are 
told  that  the  blue  line  is  the  outline  of  the  mountains  of  Judea.  Soon, 
below  the  line  of  the  distant  hills,  a  bold  rock  looms  before  us  in  the  dis¬ 
tance,  like  a  huge  fortification.  That  is  Jaffa,  the  Joppa  of  the  Bible.  In 


2? 


z6 


JOPPA 


a  little  while  we  see  the  dark  green  of  the  orange  groves  to  the  northward; 
by  and  by  we  discern  the  waving  tops  of  palm  trees;  then  the  many 
colored  flags  of  the  consulates,  fluttering  on  their  flag-staffs;  and  below, 
northward  and  southward,  stretches  the  long  line  of  yellow  beach  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  coast.  A  fleet  of  flat-bottomed  boats  is  putting  out 
to  meet  us,  and  very  soon  we  are  deafened  with  the  loud,  harsh,  guttural 
cries  and  counter-cries  of  the  boatmen  by  whose  assistance  we  are  to  get 
ashore. 

It  is  no  trifling  matter  to  get  ashore  at  Joppa  m  the  best  of  weather; 
and  in  bad  weather  it  is  quite  impossible..  It  is  a  dangerous  coast,  and 


JOPPA  FROM  THE  SEA 

there  is  no  harbor  worthy  of  the  name.  What  is  called  the  harbor  of 
Joppa  is  only  a  small  basin  formed  by  natural  rocks,  partly  visible  and 
partly  under  water.  There  are  three  places  at  which  an  entrance  to  this 
basin  might  be  made  by  small  vessels.  One  to  the  north  is  broad,  but 
dangerous  on  account  of  sand  banks.  To  the  south  another,  called  the 
Moon-pool,  is  probably  the  opening  through  which  the  rafts  of  Hiram,  King 
of  Tyre,  were  towed  into  the  inner  basin,  but  it  has  long  been  practically 
closed  by  sand  and  silt.  The  only  available  entrance  is  on  the  northwest, 
where  there  is  a  passage  of  not  more  than  a  hundred  feet  in  width,  through 
which,  however,  only  row-boats  and  small  craft  can  pass.  Through  that 


George  Plnlijt  J.  Son 


•  ;  ' 


■ 


■ 


' 


' 


JOPPA. 


29 


passage  our  landing  must  be  made  with  the  help  of  those  flat-bottomed 
cobles  with  which  our  steamer  is  surrounded  as  she  comes  to  anchor  half 
a  mile  from  the  basin. 

Again  we  have  reason  to  be  glad  that  we  are  favored  with  fine 
weather.  If  it  were  a  stormy  day,  the  steamer  would  not  stop  here  at  all, 
but  would  go  on  to  her  next  port  at  Haifa,  near  Mount  Carmel;  and  if  the 
rough  weather  continued,  we 
might  be  taken  on  to  Beirut 
and  be  compelled  to  enter 
the  Beautiful  Land  far  to  the 
north  and  not  at  the  south. 

The  coast  of  Joppa  is  not 
only  dangerous,  but  treacher¬ 
ous;  storms  blow  up  with  in¬ 
credible  rapidity,  and  when 

T) 

the  wind  drives  from  the  > 
west,  any  unfortunate  sailing  0 

*  d 

vessel  that  may  chance  to  be  ^ 
caught  in  it  is  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  swept  upon 
the  rocks.  From  the  most 
ancient  times  we  read  of 
wrecks  at  Joppa;  and  not 
many  years  ago  the  remains 
of  an  ancient  galley  were  dug 
up  in  some  excavations  on 
the  shore.  As  Dr.  Geikie 
says,  Phoenician,  Egyptian, 

Syrian,  Roman,  Crusading  and  modern  fleets  have  all  paid  tribute  to 
the  angry  waters  of  the  coast  of  Joppa.  The  packet  steamers  are  com¬ 
paratively  safe,  but  in  rough  weather  they  can  never  be  sure  of  landing 
passengers  at  Joppa. 

To-day,  luckily  for  us,  the  breeze  is  light  and  the  water  smooth.  It 
will  be  well  to  lose  no  time  in  getting  ashore,  for  it  would  take  but  a  little 
while  to  change  the  aspect  of  the  scene,  and  a  rough  landing  would  be 


30 


JOPPA. 


disagreeable.  There  are  sharks  to  be  found  in  these  blue  waves,  and  if 
our  boat  should  upset,  we  might  be  deprived  of  a  dry  death,  and  yet  not 
die  the  death  of  drowning.  Let  us  go  ashore,  then.  Three  or  four  of  us 
can  take  one  of  the  boats  at  a  cost  of  five  francs  for  the  party,  or  we  can 
separate  and  go  in  different  boats  for  a  trifle  less.  Do  which  we  will,  we 
climb  down  the  ladder  and  take  our  seats;  the  boatmen  pull  away  until 
they  reach  the  narrow  inlet  of  the  basin;  then,  waiting  for  the  swell  of  an 
in-rolling  wave,  they  give  one  tremendous  pull,  and  we  are  safe  in  smooth 
water.  So  far  well;  but  your  tale  of  fresh  experiences  is  not  yet  told. 
From  the  steamer  you  have  reached  the  boat;  with  your  boat  you  have 
reached  the  harbor;  but  you  have  yet  to  reach  the  shore.  The  boats  can¬ 
not  reach  it  on  account  of  the  shallowness  of  the  water;  therefore  resign 
yourself  to  the  inevitable;  throw  yourself  confidently,  if  not  cheerfully,  into 
the  arms  of  that  bare-legged,  piratical-looking  fellow  in  the  water.  There 
will  be  not  a  particle  of  sentiment  in  his  embrace,  and  not  a  bit  of  gener¬ 
ous  gallantry  in  his  attentions,  which  will  cost  you  two  or  three  sous.  He 
will  be  useful  to  you,  nevertheless,  for  in  a  few  minutes  he  will  bear  you  to 
the  steps  of  the  landing;  he  will  set  your  feet  thereon;  perchance  he  will 
then  give  you  an  unexpected  hoist  which  will  be  more  helpful  than  gentle; 
and  in  this  unromantic  way  you  will  enter  the  Beautiful  Land  of  many  a 
sacred  dream. 

Standing  on  those  steps,  with  hoarse  voices  screaming  around  you  in 
a  language  of  which  you  know  nothing  but  the  always  intelligible  cry  of 
“Backsheesh!”  and  with  your  baggage  already  on  the  way  to  a  prosaic  and 
annoying  custom-house,  you  will  hardly  be  likely  to  indulge  in  the  poetic 
musings  you  have  often  anticipated.  It  will  not  be  worth  while  to  attempt 
the  impossible.  Postpone  your  reflections  to  a  more  favorable  moment, 
and,  as  the  day  is  fine,  take  a  stroll  through  Joppa,  or  Jaffa ,  as  you  will 
soon  find  yourself  calling  it.  If  you  are  wise,  you  will  hire  a  donkey  for 
the  excursion,  and  when  you  make  your  start  you  will  very  soon  discover 
that  there  are  no  streets  in  Joppa;  only  narrow  lanes,  or  alleys,  or  wynds, 
all  of  which  are  as  dirty  as  they  are  narrow,  and  some  of  which  are  nearly 
as  dark  as  they  are  dirty.  The  houses  are  built  of  tufa  stone.,  and  where 
you  would  expect  to  see  the  inhabitants  looking  from  the  windows,  you  will 
perceive  that  there  are  no  windows.  The  windows  of  oriental  houses  do 


1 


SHOPS  AT  JAFFA 


-  • 

V 

' 


>  : 

: 


- 


• 1 

l"i 


\ 


, 


■ 

■ 


■ 


■  - 


_ 

■ 


•m 


,  I 

- 


'  . 


JOPPA. 


33 


not  open  on  the  street,  but  on  the  inner  court,  except  sometimes  in  the 
upper  stories,  which  project  so  far  as  almost  to  meet  above  your  head. 
There  you  will  see  small  lattice  windows  through  which,  unseen  by  you, 


JOPPA  FROM  WITHIN,  LOOKING  TOWARD  THE  NORTHWEST. 


the  women  of  the  house,  like  the  mother  of  Sisera,  can  look  on  what  passes 
below.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  sidewalk,  nothing  whatever  of  the  nature 
of  a  pavement.  The  road  is  one  general  accumulation  of  filth,  through 
which,  if  you  had  not  hired  a  donkey,  you  would  find  it  difficult  to  pick 
your  way.  One  wonders  sometimes  to  read  of  the  ancient  cities  and  build' 
ings  which  are  found  by  scientific  excavators,  buried  many  feet  under  cities 
and  buildings  of  a  later  date;  but  the  wonder  grows  less  if  we  may  suppose 


34 


JOPPA. 


that  the  same  filthy  habits  prevailed  in  ancient  times  as  now  prevail  at 
Joppa.  People  who  throw  all  the  refuse  of  their  dwellings  into  the  streets 
before  their  doors,  might  be  expected  in  process  of  time  to  bury  their 
houses  under  the  accumulated  rubbish. 

But  you  will  not  go  through,  or  even  into,  the  wynds  and  lanes  of 
Joppa.  Fortunately  there  is  one,  though  there  is  only  one,  irregular  thor¬ 
oughfare,  which  leads  from  the  north  end  of  the  quay  where  you  landed, 
into  the  small  bazaar,  and,  further  on,  into  the  Arabian  bazaar.  It  is  not  a 
thoroughfare  for  wheeled  vehicles;  there  are  no  wheeled  vehicles  in  Joppa. 
Baggage,  goods  and  merchandise  are  carried  by  brawny  porters,  whose 
strength  and  sleight  of  handling  their  loads  are  marvelous.  No  weight 
seems  to  be  too  great  for  them.  Their  only  tool  is  a  rope  of  camel’s 
hair,  with  which  they  tie  together  whatever  is  to  be  carried;  and  often  the 
burden  is  much  greater  in  size  and  weight  than  the  bearer.  Six  or  eight 
porters  will  carry  a  hogshead  of  sugar  with  apparent  ease;  and  when  the 
porter  is  once  under  weight,  he  has  all  the  rights  of  the  road.  In  this  thor¬ 
oughfare  of  Joppa,  which  is  narrow  enough  in  some  places,  if  you  should 
chance  to  meet  a  porter,  you  will  do  well  to  get  out  of  his  way;  he  will  be 
at  no  pains  to  get  out  of  yours.  Besides  porters,  you  are  very  sure  to 
meet  water-carriers,  bearing  skins  full  of  water  to  be  delivered  to  the  inhabi¬ 
tants.  These  are  the  only  water-works,  or  rather,  the  water-workers,  of 
Joppa.  Donkeys  you  will  be  sure  to  meet,  as  they  are  driven  along  with  loads 
of  merchandise  and  provisions  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  poor, 
patient,  sturdy  little  beasts.  The  camels  will  impress  you  with  a  feeling 
of  pity.  A  camel  is  not  a  happy  creature;  everything  about  him  tells  you 
that  of  all  the  brute  creation  which  man  has  subjected  to  his  service,  the 
camel  is  the  least  contented  with  the  state  of  life  into  which  he  has  been 
called.  In  Palestine,  at  least,  there  is  little  reason  why  the  camel  should 
be  satisfied  with  his  hard  fate.  He  is  often  mercilessly  treated,  hard- 
worked,  under-fed,  and  being  never  cleaned,  he  almost  invariably  becomes 
a  victim  of  a  burning  and  devouring  mange.  Generally  speaking,  he  is  not 
a  pleasant  object  to  look  at;  and  the  unlovely  are  not  apt  to  awaken  much 
sympathy.  Yet,  though  you  cannot  help  him,  you  cannot  help  pitying 
him,  as  he  goes  by  with  that  helplessly  resentful  look  of  unmerited  suffer¬ 
ing.  You  will  probably  have  less  pity  for  the  dogs,  which  you  will  meet  at 


CAMP  OF  IBRAHIM  PASHA 


.. 

4  . 

* 


- .  M 


■ 


'  ,  • 


-  . 


•  .  i 


' 


■* 

‘1 

■ 


■ 


- 


. 


a 


■ 


j 

r  *■ 


- 

~ 

'  *  : 

. 


JOPPA. 


37 


every  step.  They,  too,  are  vile,  mangy,  repulsive  brutes,  silent  enough  in 
the  daytime,  but  at  night  snarling  and  snapping  at  you  if  you  disturb  or 
approach  them  as  they  prowl  in  the  street.  They  will  not  bite  you;  but 
they  are  an  ever-present  offence  to  the  eye.  You  would  wonder  that  the 
inhabitants  endure  them  if  you  did  not  know  how  useful  these  living 
nuisances  are  in  removing  a  thousand  other  more  deadly  nuisances  from 
these  filthy  streets.  The  dogs  are  the  only  scavengers;  and  that  they  can 
live  in  such  numbers  on  the  offal,  shows  how  invaluable  they  must  be  in 
devouring,  and  thus  removing,  many  festering  causes  of  sickness  and  death. 
These  dogs  belong  to  nobody  in  particular;  and  they  are  thorough  demo¬ 
crats  in  this  respect,  that  they  will  allow  no  canine  aristocracy  to  live  near 
them.  No  one  can  safely  keep  a  pet  dog,  for  the  moment  the  unfortunate 
pet  should  set  his  paws  outside  of  his  home,  the  whole  dog  mob  of  the  city 
would  surround  and  destroy  him. 

As  we  pass  the  bazaar  we  shall  not  fail  to  observe  the  many  shops, 
booths  and  stalls  in  which  business  is  transacted.  A  Syrian  shop  is  very 
little  like  an  English  shop  or  an  American  store.  The  houses,  as  I  have 
said,  are  built  of  stone;  but  not  as  European  and  American  houses  are 
built.  The  walls  are  of  immense  thickness,  as  if  intended  to  endure  for¬ 
ever.  Hardly  any  wood  is  used  in  any  part  of  them,  and  the  ordinary  shop 
is  simply  a  huge  arch  or  opening  cut  out  of  the  solid  wall,  with  more  or 
less  space,  quite  beyond  the  passenger’s  sight,  in  the  rear.  Facing  the 
street,  sits  the  cross-legged  merchant,  ready  to  spend  hours  in  haggling 
with  customers  over  the  price  of  his  wares.  At  the  East,  time  is  of  no  par¬ 
ticular  consequence  to  buyer  or  seller;  and  if  a  bargain  were  to  be  con¬ 
cluded  without  chaffering,  the  seller  would  feel  that  he  had  asked  too  little, 
while  the  buyer  would  be  persuaded  that  he  had  foolishly  paid  too  much. 
How  many  kinds  of  huckster’s  stalls  we  find  in  this  bazaar  of  Joppa!  Al¬ 
most  anything  answers  the  purpose.  A  bench  will  do;  a  shawl  hung  up 
for  an  awning  makes  a  perfectly  satisfactory  tent  or  booth,  under  which 
the  merchant  sits  on  the  ground.  At  the  opening  of  one  shop  we  see  song¬ 
birds  for  sale;  hard  by  is  a  cafe  for  the  refreshment  of  passengers;  here  is 
a  rude  smithy  with  a  blacksmith  plying  his  hammer;  there  a  cobbler  stitch¬ 
ing  away  at  shoes  which  are  already  worn  out  of  all  conceivable  shape; 
yonder  we  must  pass  a  carpenter  whose  work  and  implements  send  our 


38 


JOPPA. 


thoughts  swiftly  to  another  workshop  where  a  certain  Youth  grew  up  s‘in 
wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man.”  Here  is  a  pottery 
shop  with  its  light,  brittle  vessels  of  clay  for  sale  at  prices  which  would  be 
incredibly  cheap,  if  the  ware  were  not  so  fragile  as  to  be  constantly  break¬ 
ing,  and  therefore,  in  the  course  of  a  year,  costing  a  good  deal  to  the  fami¬ 
lies  which  are  obliged  to  use  it. 
Near  by  a  saddler  is  conducting 
an  animated  process  of  bargaining 
with  an  Arab  for  a  highly  orna¬ 
mented  saddle  on  which  the  Bed¬ 
ouin  imprudently  casts  longing  and 
admiring  glances.  Those  injudi¬ 
cious  glances  are  likely  to  cost 
him  as  much  as  the  value  of  the 
saddle.  Such  is  trade  in  Syria. 
Altogether  the  shops  and  stalls 
Syrian  dogs.  for  the  sale  of  provisions  seem 

much  the  more  numerous.  All  around  and  along  the  sides  of  the  bazaar 
are  milk-stalls,  bread-shops,  fish-stalls,  sausage  shops  and  a  rare  display 
of  all  manner  of  fruits  and  vegetables. 

The  people  we  meet  are  as  various,  and,  to  our  unaccustomed  eyes,  as 
curious,  as  other  sights  of  this  queer  city.  Besides  Europeans  and  Ameri¬ 
cans,  who  are  commonly  called  Franks,  we  meet  dark  complexioned  Lev¬ 
antines,  wearing  the  European  dress,  stately  Arabs  and  Turks,  with  turbans 
and  flowing  robes,  European  and  Asiatic  Jews  and  negroes,  wearing  the  red 
fez  with  blue  cotton  jackets  and  trousers.  Women  of  all  classes  go  closely 
veiled.  We  shall  get  used  to  these  strange  figures  very  soon,  no  doubt; 
just  at  first  they  are  somewhat  bewildering.  But  what  is  this?  A  woman 
without  a  veil,  and  therefore  a  Christian,  with  rings  on  her  arms  and  fin¬ 
gers,  and  her  faced  tattooed!  It  is  an  uncanny  sight;  one  wonders  how  a 
woman  could  think  to  add  to  her  attractions  by  such  hideous  ornamenta¬ 
tion;  and  yet  we  know  that  the  practice  of  tattooing  the  face  and  the  body 
has  been  common  at  the  East  from  very  early  times. 

There  is  little  to  detain  us  in  the  city  proper;  there  is  much  to  draw 
us  to  the  country  beyond.  For  our  lodging  while  we  stay,  we  may  betake 


COURT  OF  TURKISH  HOUSE 


SEk2$ 


-mm 

' 

' 


v 


. 


V  ‘  .  -  -  * 

. 


V 


f  v. 


\ 


. 

'  , 

'  . 


jm 

> 

' 

■ 


t 

' 


] 


— 

‘  -  -  **  -  . 


4 


x 


. 

r  , ;  1 

- 


JOPPA. 


4i 


ourselves  to  the  Latin  Hospice,  where  three  priests  and  four  monks  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  are  ready  to  receive  us  with  Italian  hospitality,  01 
to  the  magnificent  convent  of  the  Greek  Church,  from  the  terraces  ol 
which  we  shall  have  a  grand  view  of  the  city,  the  sea  and  the  coast.  Not 
less  attractive  is  the  Armenian  Convent,  where  Bonaparte  received  a  noble 
rebuke  from  a  gallant  and  conscientious  man.  In  1799  the  cells  of  the 
convent  had  been  occupied  by  plague-stricken  French  soldiers,  and  before 
evacuating  the  city  Bonaparte  suggested  to  the  surgeon  Desgenettes  that 
he  had  better  quietly  administer  a  heavy  dose  of  opium  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  who  could  not  conveniently  be  taken  away,  and  might  be 
massacred  by  the  Turks.  To  this  cold-blooded  proposal  to  anticipate 
Turkish  massacre  by  Christian  assassination  Desgenettes  replied,  “Sir,  it  is 
my  business  to  cure  men,  not  to  kill  them!” 

There  are  other  places  where,  for  a  moderate  compensation,  we  might 
find  very  good  accommodations;  but  the  ideal  thing  would  be  to  get  pos¬ 
session,  as  Dr.  Thompson  did,  of  one  of  the  dwellings  which  are  buried  in 
a  wilderness  of  lovely  gardens  and  orchards  all  around  Joppa.  So  en- 
chantingly  beautiful  do  these  gardens  and  orchards  appear  that  they 
remind  one  of  the  fabled  gardens  of  the  famed  Hesperides.  The  soil  is 
light  and  sandy,  but  it  is  made  fruitful  by  irrigation,  and  irrigation  is  a 
matter  of  extreme  facility  throughout  that  region.  By  digging  but  a  few 
few  feet  wells  are  found  with  an  abundance  of  water,  which  is  raised  by 
means  of  water-wheels  and  is  conveyed  in  trenches  to  the  gardens.  The 
land  is  divided  into  plots,  called  biarahs,  and  separated  from  each  other  by 
tall  hedges  of  cactus,  which  are  so  thick  and  so  perfectly  defended  by  the 
rude  thorns  and  prickles  of  the  plant  as  to  be  perfectly  impenetrable  to 
man  or  beast.  Hardly  any  fruits  fail  to  grow  here.  The  orange,  unknown 
to  the  ancient  world,  here  attains  perfection,  and  so  do  the  lemon,  the 
pomegranate,  the  mulberry,  the  peach,  the  apricot,  the  almond  and  the 
citron.  The  banana  and  the  sugar  cane  thrive,  but  are  not  much  culti¬ 
vated.  Vegetables  have  only  to  be  sown  or  planted  to  return  large  crops, 
but  the  variety  found  in  the  market  is  not  great.  The  water-melon 
grows  in  such  enormous  quantities  as  to  be  sold  for  next  to  nothing.  This 
bright  and  beautiful  oasis  extends  for  miles  on  the  landward  side  of  Joppa; 
and  in  the  opinion  of  competent  persons,  it  might  be  made  to  cover  the 


42  JOPPA. 

whole  Plain  of  Sharon,  which  has  a  soil  of  the  same  sort,  and  has  the  same 
facilities  for  irrigation.  Over  that  entire  plain,  as  soon  as  the  rain  falls, 


ON  THE  COAST  NEAR  JOPPA. 

rich  and  luxuriant  vegetation  clothes  Jthe  earth,  and  only  dies  down  when 
the  sun  has  dried  up  the  moisture.  With  little  trouble  it  might  again  be 


BAZAAR  AT  JAFFA, 


JOPPA. 


45 


made  to  “rejoice  and  blossom  as  a  rose.”  No  doubt  that  dreary  plain  was 
once  as  fruitful  as  the  orchard  gardens  of  Joppa,  and  when  one  thinks  of 
the  loveliness  and  fruitfulness  of  that  “garden  of  God,”  remembering  that 
much  of  Palestine  was  once  as  lovely  and  as  fruitful,  he  can  realize  the 
longing  and  delight  with  which  the  grapes  of  Esh-col  were  greeted  as  a 
message  and  pledge  of  welcome  from  the  “delightsome  lands  ‘flowing  with 
milk  and  honey’  ”  to  the  fugitive  slaves  of  the  Egyptians. 

Tokens  are  not  altogether  lacking  that  the  Holy  Land  is  destined  once 
again  to  be  a  rich,  a  fruitful,  and  a  beautiful  land.  The  Jew  has  never  yet 
abandoned  the  dream  of  its  restoration,  and  Christian  nations  look  with 
interest  and  sympathy  upon  every  effort  to  redeem  it  from  its  present 
state  of  desolation.  While  the  hand  of  the  Turk  rests  upon  it,  progress 
will  continue  to  be  slow;  but  there  are  signs  of  progress  even  now.  Some 
years  ago  a  railway  was  projected  from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem.  It  has  not 
been  built,  and  may  not  be  built  for  years  to  come;  but  it  will  surely  be 
built  some  time,  and  when  it  is,  the  Plain  of  Sharon  will  begin  to  be  too 
valuable  to  be  left  untilled.  If  no  one  else  sees  its  advantages,  our  own 
good  Brother  Jonathan  will  see  them,  and  if  he  can  get  an  “option"  on  the 
Plain  of  Sharon,  he  will  sell  it  out  in  small  lots  to  settlers  and  speculators, 
as  he  has  already  sold  millions  of  acres  in  the  far  west.  It  is  curious  that 
as  early  as  1866  a  German-American  colony  was  established  quite  near  to 
the  Latin  Hospice.  It  numbered  originally  some  forty  families;  but  it  did 
not  prosper,  and  hardly  a  trace  of  it  remains.  In  1868  another  colony  of 
Germans  from  Wurtemburg  was  established  a  little  further  out  from  the 
city,  and  numbers  at  this  time  some  three  hundred  souls.  It  is  called  the 
colony  of  the  German  Temple,  and  belongs  to  a  sect  of  Christians  who 
believe  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  Christians  to  settle  in  Palestine. 
Their  village,  which  they  call  Sarona,  is  about  two  miles  from 
Joppa,  and  is  both  a  thriving  and  an  attractive  settlement.  On 
the  south-east  of  the  town  Dr.  Geikie  says  that  “a  settlement  of  the 
Universal  Israelitish  Alliance  has  been  able  to  obtain  a  tract  of  seven 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  one-third  of  which,  before  unclaimed,  they  have 
turned  into  fruitful  fields  and  gardens.  Their  vineyards,  and  those  of 
others,  skirt  the  orchards  on  the  south,  the  vines  trailing  low  over  the  sand, 
but  yielding  large  and  delicious  grapes.”  All  along  the  shore,  to  the  south 


46 


JOPPA. 


of  Joppa,  a  compulsory  settlement  of  Egyptian  peasants,  or  Fellahin,  was 
made  under  Ibrahim  Pasha.  There  the  unhappy  creatures  were  left 
stranded,  and  there  they  are  still  living  most  wretchedly.  War  has  left 
many  sad  marks  in  every  part  of  Palestine;  and  not  far  from  the  Fellahin 
villages,  the  spot  is  still  shown  where  Napoleon  Bonaparte  ordered  nearly 
three  thousand  Turkish  soldiers  to  be  slaughtered  in  cold  blood,  because 
he  could  not  conveniently  take  them  with  him  to  Egypt. 

But  we  are  getting  into  the  history  of  Joppa;  we  may  as  well  take  a 
hasty  glance  at  it  in  chronological  order. 

Pliny  and  Pomponius  Mela  both  tell  us  that  Joppa,  according  to  the 
prevalent  traditions  of  antiquity,  is  more  ancient  than  the  flood;  but  it  can 
hardly  be  the  flood  of  the  Bible  to  which  these  historians  refer.  The 
Bible  story  of  Jonah  is  connected  with  the  far  more  ancient  legend  of 
Andromeda,  which  I  may  tell  as  follows:  Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a 
king  of  the  ^Ethiopians,  whose  name  was  Cepheus.  The  name  of  his  wife 
•was  Joppa.  These  two  had  a  daughter,  a  lovely  maid,  who  grew  up  in 
such  extraordinary  beauty  as  to  cause  her  mother  to  boast  that  her 
daughter  Andromeda  was  fairer  than  the  Nereids  themselves.  At  this 
boast  the  nymphs  of  the  sea  were  highly  incensed,  and  sought  revenge  for 
the  insult.  At  their  request  Poseidon,  god  of  the  sea,  sent  a  flood  upon 
the  land,  and  a  monstrous  beast  withal,  by  whom  the  people  were  de¬ 
voured.  In  their  distress  Cepheus  and  the  ^Ethiopians  sought  counsel 
from  the  gods,  and  the  oracle  of  Ammon  declared  that  the  land  could  be 
delivered  from  the  monster  and  the  flood  only  on  condition  that  Androm¬ 
eda  should  be  chained  to  a  rock  beside  the  shore  and  left  there  as  a  victim 
to  the  deadly  beast.  Cepheus  was  driven  by  the  people  to  give  up  his 
child  to  that  sad  fate,  and  Pliny  says  that  marks  of  the  chain  upon  the 
rocks  were  still  shown  in  his  time.  But  before  the  monster  could  devour 
his  hapless  prey,  he  was  slain  by  Perseus,  and  Andromeda  became  the 
wife  of  her  deliverer.  When  she  died,  a  place  among  the  stars  was  given 
her,  and  she  may  yet  be  seen  shining  among  the  hosts  of  heaven.  Long 
ages  afterward,  in  the  time  of  Pompey,  the  skeleton  of  a  huge  monster 
was  discovered  near  Joppa,  and  was  removed  by  Marcus  Scaurus  to  Rome. 
It  was  found  to  measure  no  less  than  forty  feet  in  length,  and  its  backbone 
was  eighteen  inches  in  diameter.  By  the  Romans,  this  huge  creature  was 


JOPPA.  47 

supposed  to  be  the  monster  of  the  myth  of  Andromeda.  By  Christians,  it 
was  thought  to  be  the  whale  of  the  book  of  Jonah. 

Authentic  history  gives  no  account  of  the  founding  of  Joppa.  At  the 
time  of  the  Israelitish  conquest,  it  was  already  in  existence,  and  it  was 
given  by  Joshua  to  the  tribe  of  Dan.  The  original  inhabitants  worshiped 
a  goddess  of  the  name  of  Keto  or  Derketo,  who  was  half  fish,  half  woman. 
In  the  time  of  David,  Joppa  had  become  the  port  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  was 
to  that  port  that  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  sent  his  floats  of  timber  for  the 
building  of  the  temple  (2  Chron.  ii:  16).  Five  hundred  years  later, 
cedars  of  Lebanon  were  brought  in  the  same  way  and  to  the  same 
place  for  the  use  of  Zerubabel  in  building  that  second  temple,  which  the 
presence  of  the  Christ  was  to  make  more  glorious  than  its  glorious  prede¬ 
cessor  (Ezra  iii:  7).  Just  when  it  was  that  Jonah  set  out  from  Joppa  on  his 
journey  to  Nineveh,  or  by  what  route  he  expected  to  reach  his  destination, 
or  what  the  “ship  of  Tarshish”  was  in  which  he  sailed,  or  what  manner  of 
whale  it  was  that  swallowed  him,  is  not  historically  known.  We  must 
leave  such  questions  to  the  commentators;  but  our  Saviour  is  reported  to 
have  said  that  a  sign  like  that  of  the  prophet  Jonah  was  the  only  sign 
which  should  be  given  to  the  people  of  his  own  time:  “As  Jonah  was  three 
days  and  three  nights  in  the  whale’s  belly,  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be 
three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth.  The  men  of  Nine- 
vah  shall  rise  up  in  judgment  against  the  men  of  this  generation,  and  shall 
condemn  it;  because  they  repented  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah,  and  behold, 
a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here.”  (Matt,  xii:  40,  41.) 

Joppa  is  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Maccabees.  Judas  Maccabeus 
captured  it,  burned  the  port  and  shipping,  and  signally  avenged  the  death 
of  two  hundred  Jews,  who  had  been  treacherously  destroyed.  Jonathan 
and  Simon  Maccabeus  also  took  Joppa;  but  they  fortified  it,  placed  a  gar¬ 
rison  there,  and  reopened  the  port. 

Pompey  made  Joppa  a  free  city  of  Rome.  Caesar  restored  it  to  the 
Jews.  Herod  the  Great  occupied  it,  and  his  possession  of  it  was  con¬ 
firmed  to  him  by  the  Emperor  Augustus.  After  the  death  of  Herod,  it  was 
given  to  Archelaus;  but  it  was  taken  from  him  ten  years  later,  and  from 
that  time  remained  under  the  authority  of  the  Roman  governor  of  the 


province. 


48 


JOPPA. 


We  hear  repeatedly  of  Joppa  in  the  New  Testament.  The  gentle  and 
charitable  Tabitha  (or  Dorcas)  had  her  home,  so  the  tradition  runs,  in  one 
of  the  garden-orchards  in  the  neighborhood;  it  was  there  that  St.  Peter 
raised  her  to  life  after  her  real  or  supposed  death  (Acts  ix:  36-43);  and  it 

was  from  the  house  of  Tabitha  that 
the  same  Apostle  went  and  “tarried 
many  days  with  one  Simon,  a  tan¬ 
ner.”  (Acts  ix:  43).  There,  in  the 
house  of  Simon,  the  great  Apostle 
had  his  famous  vision,  three  times 
repeated,  of  a  sheet  let  down  from 
heaven,  containing  all  manner  of 
beasts,  clean  and  unclean.  When, 
in  his  vision,  he  was  thrice  bidden  to 
arise,  to  kill,  and  to  eat,  he  thrice 
refused,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
never  eaten  anything  common  or 
unclean,  and  received  for  answer 
the  admonition,  “What  God  hath 
cleansed,  that  call  not  thou  com¬ 
mon  or  unclean.”  Arising  from  his 
vision,  Peter  found  messengers  from 
the  Centurion  Cornelius,  and  then, 
under  the  instruction  of  the  Spirit,  he  interpreted  his  dream  to  mean  that 
he  must  not  refuse  to  bear  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the  Gentile  who  had  sent 
for  him.  (Acts  x:  1-20).  This  famous  occurrence  took  place  eleven  years 
after  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour,  so  that  it  took  a  long  time  for  even 
the  immediate  Apostles  of  Christ  to  under¬ 
stand  that  He  had  come  to  save  the  world,  and 
not  merely  the  nation  of  the  Jews. 

At  the  time  of  the  Jewish  insurrection,  which 
ended  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Joppa  C0IN  0F  J0PPA- 

was  taken  and  sacked.  Subsequently  it  was  rebuilt  and  became  a  nest  of 
pirates,  whom  Vespasian  destroyed.  When  the  town  was  captured  the 
pirates  took  to  their  ships,  but  a  west  wind  drove  them  back  upon  the 


A  WATER  SELLER. 


JOPPA.  49 

shore,  and  those  of  them  whom  the  waves  spared  were  mercilessly  cut 
down  by  the  Roman  soldiers. 

Again  Joppa  rose  from  its  ashes  and  became  the  see  of  a  Christian 
bishop;  but  again  it  fell  in  the  Arab  invasion  of  636,  and  it  was  held  by 
the  Arabs  until  the  Crusades.  In  1099  it  was  abandoned  by  the  Arabs  and 
occupied  by  Christians;  and,  in  spite  of  many  attacks,  it  remained  a  Chris- 
ian  city  till  1187.  In  that  year  it  was  captured  by  Malek-el-Adel,  brother 
of  Saladin,  who  destroyed  it  in  the  following  year.  In  1191  it  was  occu¬ 
pied  and  its  walls  were  rebuilt  by  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  who  had  his 
quarters  in  one  of  the  garden-orchards  of  the  suburbs.  In  the  following 
year,  after  Richard  had  departed,  it  was  besieged  by  Saladin,  but  Richard 
came  to  its  relief  and  raised  the  siege.  Five  years  later,  however,  it  was 
taken  again  by  Malek-el-Adel  and  it  is  said  that  30,000  Christians  were  put 
to  the  sword.  From  that  time  its  fortunes  varied  until  1267  when  it  was 
completely  devastated.  In  the  centuries  which  followed  we  hear  nothing 
of  Joppa,  but  it  gradually  rose  again  into  some  importance,  and  its  import¬ 
ance  brought  its  usual  misfortunes.  In  1722  it  was  sacked  by  the  Arabs; 
in  1775  by  the  Mamelukes;  and  in  1799  it  was  occupied  by  Bonaparte, 
whose  behavior,  we  have  seen,  was  not  more  Christian  than  that  of  previ¬ 
ous  conquerors.  The  city  was  afterward  fortified  by  the  English,  and 
the  fortifications  were  extended  by  the  Turks,  who  still  hold  it.  The  forti¬ 
fications  have  fallen  into  decay,  but  the  gates  of  the  city  are  novelties  to 
the  traveller,  and  are  sure  to  attract  his  attention. 

Surely  a  troublous  history  has  been  that  of  Joppa.  Its  name,  Yapho , 
which  is  variously  interpreted  to  signify  Bemity  and  Tower  of  Delight ,  sug¬ 
gested  no  prophecy  of  its  many  misfortunes.  As  Dr.  Thompson  says, 
“the  mere  name  is  a  romance;”  but  its  history  is  a  romance  of  many 
tragedies.  An  unknown  poet  sings  of  it: 

Oldest  of  cities!  Sidon  of  the  North, 

And  Kirjath-Arba  of  the  rocky  South, 

And  Egypt’s  Zoan  cannot  equal  thee. 

Andromeda  and  Perseus,  if  the  lay 
Of  classic  fable  speak  the  truth,  were  here, 

Monarchs  of  Palestine,  and  kings  of  Tyre, 

And  the  brave  Maccabee  have  all  been  here. 

And  Cestius,  with  his  Roman  plunderers, 


50 


JOPPA. 


And  Saladin,  and  Baldwin,  and  the  host 
Of  fierce  crusaders  from  the  British  North, 

Once  shook  their  swords  above  thee,  and  thy  blood 
Flowed  down  like  water  to  thine  ancient  sea. 

At  the  present  time  Joppa  has  a  population  of  something  over  13,000 
souls,  of  whom  10,000  are  Mohammedans,  1,500  are  Christians  of  the  Greek 
Church,  700  are  Armenians,  350  are  Latins,  that  is,  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  the  rest  are  Jews,  Germans  and  other  Protestant  and 
oriental  Christians.  It  has  a  considerable  trade  with  Egypt,  Syria  and 
Constantinople.  Its  exports  are  chiefly  soap,  sesame,  wheat  and  oranges. 
Within  the  past  few  years  silk  culture  has  been  introduced  into  the  plain 
of  Sharon.  The  principal  source  of  the  wealth  of  Joppa  is  derived  from 
the  annual  passage  of  pilgrims  through  the  town  to  visit  the  holy  places, 
which  are  objects  of  veneration  not  only  to  Jews  and  Christians  but  also 
to  Mohammedans. 

There  are  not  many  objects  of  special  interest  in  Joppa.  The  con¬ 
vents  already  mentioned  are  well  worth  a  visit.  The  principal  mosque  of 
the  city  is  a  striking  building.  Several  places  claim  the  distinction  of  hav¬ 
ing  been  the  site  of  the  house  of  Tabitha.  Perhaps  one  which  is  situated 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  east  of  the  town  is  the  least  improba¬ 
ble;  but  that  the  site  of  a  private  dwelling  should  still  be  ascertainable 
after  so  many  ages,  so  many  sieges  and  so  many  complete  destructions  of 
the  city,  is  hardly  possible.  The  same  might  be  said  of  the  house  of  Simon 
the  Tanner.  The  Latin  Hospice  claims  to  stand  on  the  site  of  Simon’s 
house;  but  Mr.  Guerin  and  other  high  authorities  hold  that  its  true  site  is 
near  by  an  obscure  mosque  called  the  Mosque  of  the  Bastion.  It  is  situ¬ 
ated  near  the  Moon  Pool,  to  the  south  of  the  city,  and  is  “by  the  sea  side,” 
according  to  the  description  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (x:6).  It  adds 
something  to  the  probability  that  there  are  now  some  small  tanyards  near 
by.  Some  years  ago  Capt.  Guillemot  discovered  near  the  mosque  some  of 
the  columns  and  capitals  of  a  church  which  formerly  stood  on  the  spot  where 
the  mosque  now  stands  and  which  was  dedicated  to  St.  Peter.  The  house, 
which  is  called  the  House  of  Simon,  is  comparatively  modern,  but  it  is  held 
in  much  veneration  by  the  Mohammedans,  who  have  a  tradition  that  the 
Lord  Isa  (Jesus)  while  tarrying  here,  asked  God  for  food,  and  that  imme- 


JOPPA 


diately  a  table  was  let  down  from  heaven  with  the  food  He  had  desired. 
We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  our  Saviour  was  ever  in  Joppa;  and 
the  Mohammedan  tradition  is  evidently  a  mere  variation  of  the  vision  of 
St.  Peter.  In  the  court  of  this  house  there  is  a  hg  tree,  and  a  well.  The 
doorway  is  simply  an  opening  in  the  wall,  without  any  wood-work  what- 


HEDGE  OF  CACTUS. 

ever.  The  roof  is  flat,  and  of  course  surrounded  with  a  parapet  made  of 
hollow  earthenware  pipes,  inclined  downward,  so  as  to  allow  a  free  circula¬ 
tion  of  air  and  at  the  same  time  permit  the  occupants  of  the  roof  to  look 
down  on  what  is  going  on  below  without  themselves  being  seen.  From 
the  roof  of  Simon’s  house  there  is  a  fine  view  of  the  Moon  Pool  and  the 
sea  beyond. 

We  have  not  been  long  in  the  Beautiful  Land,  and  yet  what  we  have 
seen  casts  a  gleam  of  light  over  many  passages  of  Holy  Scriptures.  Let 
us  spend  a  little  time  in  looking  over  some  of  those  passages. 

A  city  gate  is  a  new  thing  to  us;  but  the  cities  of  the  Bible  were 
walled  cities  with  gates.  Even  the  villages  had  gates  for  entrance,  as  they 
had  walls  for  defence.  The  passage  through  the  wall  to  which  the  gate 


52 


JOPPA. 


gave  access  was  a  cool  place  in  the  heat  of  summer,  and  around  the  gate 
there  was  generally  an  open  space,  as  there  still  is  at  the  principal  gate  of 
Jerusalem,  where  a  sort  of  market  was  held.  The  narrow  lanes  and  wynds 
which  we  have  seen  in  Joppa  are  exactly  like  the  streets  of  all  ancient 
towns  of  Palestine,  and  the  people  must  have  been  glad  to  escape  from 
them  into  the  pure  air  of  the  open  space  at  the  gate.  So  it  naturally  came 
about  that  when  many  of  the.  people  were  to  be  gathered  together,  the  gate 
was  the  usual  place  of  meeting;  and  we  read  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and 
Israel  going  out  to  the  gate  of  Samaria  and  sitting  there,  each  in  his  royal 
robes,  to  hear  the  words  of  the  prophets  (i  Kings  xxii:  io).  The  gate  was 
the  customary  resort  of  the  elders  of  the  city  for  consultation,  and  Job  in 
his  adversity  recalls  that  when  he  had  formerly  gone  to  his  place  at  the 
gate  the  young  men  had  regarded  him  with  reverence,  the  aged  had  stood 
up  out  of  respect  for  him,  the  nobles  had  held  their  peace,  and  even  princes 
had  been  silent  (Job  xxix:  7-9).  For  preaching  and  all  sorts  of  publication 
the  gate  of  the  city  was  the  usual  place;  indeed  there  was  no  other,  unless 
some  part  of  a  street  chanced  to  be  unusually  wide;  so  that  again  and 
again  Solomon  in  the  Proverbs  speaks  of  Wisdom  crying  at  the  openings 
of  the  gates  (Prov.  1:  21),  and  at  the  entry  of  the  city  (Prov.  viii:  3).  If 
witnesses  were  required  to  testify  to  a  transaction  they  could  be  found  at 
the  gate,  and  therefore  contracts  were  made  there.  When  Boaz  desired  to 
meet  the  near  kinsman  of  Ruth,  who  had  not  fulfilled  his  duty  as  a  kinsman, 
he  went  to  the  gate  and  met  him  there,  and  then  in  the  presence  of  wit¬ 
nesses  he  made  the  contract  for  his  own  marriage  with  Ruth  (Ruth  iv:  1,  2). 
So,  too,  when  Abraham  purchased  the  cave  of  Machpelah  of  the  children  of 
Heth  for  the  place  of  a  burying  ground,  the  sale  was  confirmed  to  him  in 
the  presence  of  all  that  went  in  at  the  gate  of  the  city  (Gen.  xxiii:  17,18). 
Even  treaties  between  tribes  were  made  there,  as  in  the  case  of  the  treach¬ 
erous  treaty  recorded  in  the  thirty-fourth  chapter  of  Genesis.  The  gate, 
moreover,  was  the  place  where  the  hospitality  of  the  inhabitants  was  offered 
to  strangers,  as  when  Lot  sat  in  the  gate  of  Sodom  and  offered  hospitality 
to  the  two  angels  (Gen.  xix:  1).  At  the  gate  likewise  sat  the  judges  of  the 
city  to  administer  public  justice,  as  the  language  of  the  commandment 
implies,  “Judges  and  officers  shalt  thou  make  thee  in  all  thy  gates  through- 


JOPPA.  53 

out  thy  tribes,  and  they  shait  judge  the  people  with  judgment”  (Deut- 
xvi:  1 8.) 

Israel  was  often  and  sorely  punished  because  the  poor  in  the  gate 
were  turned  aside  from  their  right  by  unjust  judges,  and  the  prophet  Amos 
could  promise  no  relief  until  the  people  should  “hate  the  evil,  and  love  the 
good,  and  establish  judgment  in  the  gate”  (Amos  v:  12,  15).  The  gate  was 
also  the  place  of  execution,  where  the  guilty  were  to  be  stoned  to  death 
(Deut.  xxi:  23,  24).  In  time  of  war  the  gate  was  thronged  with  those  who 
wished  to  have  the  earliest  reports.  Eli  was  sitting  at  the  gate  when  he 
received  the  fatal  news  that  his  sons  were  slain  and  that  the  ark  of  God 
was  taken  (1  Sam.  iv:  18).  At  the  gate  David  awaited  the  result  of  Joab’s 
battle  with  the  rebellious  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xviii:  24);  from  a  part  of  the 
wall  near  to  the  gate  the  watchman  saw  the  messengers  approaching,  and 
when  he  heard  that  his  son  was  dead,  he  went  up  to  a  chamber  over  the 
gate  and  wept  (2  Sam.  xviii:  33).  In  ancient  eastern  cities  there  were  few 
public  buildings;  in  many  of  them  none  at  all;  so  that  the  gates  of  the  city 
were  a  special  object  of  pride.  Beautiful  gates  were  the  glory  of  the  citi¬ 
zens.  Isaiah  used  significant  as  well  as  poetical  language  when  he  said, 
“Thou  shait  call  thy  walls  Salvation  and  thy  gates  Praise”  (Isa.  ix:  18). 
To  cast  contempt  upon  the  gates  of  a  city  was  to  put  all  the  citizens  to 
shame,  as  Samson  did  when  he  carried  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  (Judges  xvi:  3). 
It  was  a  joy  to  the  city  when  its  gates  were  opened  to  receive  a  returning 
conqueror,  and  the  psalmist  uses  language  which  would  go  straight  to  the 
hearts  of  his  hearers  when  he  says,  “Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates;  and 
be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting  doors;  and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in” 
(Psalm  xxiv:  7). 

Through  the  gate  of  the  city  we  come  into  the  streets;  but,  as  we  have 
seen  in  Joppa,  the  word  street  does  not  mean  such  streets  as  we  are  accus¬ 
tomed  to  see  in  European  and  American  cities.  In  Hebrew  the  word  shuk 
really  means  a  cleft,  and  there  are  clefts  in  the  rock  at  Joppa  to  which  the 
name  of  street  could  by  no  means  be  properly  applied.  Such  dark  places 
are  the  natural  abodes  of  vice,  and  to  such  places  Solomon  refers  in  Pro¬ 
verbs  vii:  8.  But  we  must  remember  always  that  the  streets  of  the  Bible 
generally  mean  lanes  of  not  more  than  a  few  feet  in  width,  where  it  is  often 
a  matter  of  difficulty  for  camels  or  other  beasts  of  burden  to  pass  each 


54 


JOPPA 


other.  “When  wisdom  cries  aloud  in  the  streets”  (Prov.  i:  20),  it  must  be  at 
some  place  where  the  position  of  the  houses  leaves  a  greater  space  than 
elsewhere. 

We  have  observed  the  lattice  windows,  which  can  be  used  as  outlooks 
over  the  streets,  which  they  frequently  overhang.  So  they  were  used  by 
the  wise  man  who  looked  into  the  street  through  his  casement  (Prov.  vii:  6); 
and  long  before  the  time  of  Solomon  we  read  that  the  mother  of  Sisera 
looked  out  at  a  window  and  cried  through  the  lattice,  “Why  is  his  chariot 
so  long  in  corning?  Why  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariots?”  (Judges  v:  28). 

At  the  house  of  Simon  the  Tanner  we  have  seen  that  the  flat  roof  is 
surrounded  with  a  parapet,  as  flat  roofs  ought  to  be.  But  among  the 
Israelites  it  was  not  optional  to  build  parapets;  it  was  imperatively  required 


HOUSE  OF  SIMON  THE  TANNER — EXTERIOR. 


by  the  law:  “When  thou  buildest  a  new  house,  then  thou  shalt  make  a 
battlement  for  thy  roof,  that  thou  bring  not  blood  upon  thine  house  if  any 
man  fall  from  thence”  (Deut.  xxii:  8).  In  the  hot  nights  of  summer  the 
roof  is  the  most  agreeable  sleeping  place  about  the  small,  close  houses  of 
the  East.  In  the  day-time,  too,  it  is  frequented  for  many  purposes,  so  that 
the  wisdom,  as  well  as  the  humanity,  of  the  law  of  Moses  is  apparent. 


JOPPA. 


55 


We  have  noticed  the  pottery  and  mentioned  its  extreme  fragility.  It 
is,  indeed,  so  extremely  frail  as  to  be  broken  by  the  slightest  jar,  and  often 
merely  in  setting  it  down  upon  the  ground.  The  least  violence  would  break 
it  into  innumerable  fragments;  and,  therefore,  when  the  psalmist  says  of  the 
heathen  that  God  will  break  them  in  pieces,  like  a  potter’s  vessel  (Psalms, 
ii:  9),  he  predicts  their  sudden  and  irremediable  destruction.  But  if  the 
eastern  pottery  is  bad,  it  is  at  least  cheap,  and  there  was  no  great  hardship 
in  the  Mosaic  law,  that  a  vessel  into  which  any  (ceremonially)  unclean 
thing  had  fallen,  was  forthwith  to  be  broken  in  pieces  (Lev.  xi:  33).  A 
people  like  Israel  was  more  likely  to  obey  such  a  command  than  to  com¬ 
ply  with  any  rigorous  directions  for  the  cleansing  of  polluted  vessels. 
Fragments  of  broken  pottery  may  still  have  a  certain  utility,  as  for  taking 
a  coal  of  fire  from  the  hearth  in  an  age  and  country  where  the  convenience 
of  friction  matches  was  unknown;  and  larger  fragments  might  even  be  used 
like  saucers,  for  lifting  water  to  the  mouth  to  drink.  When  the  prophet 
would  suggest  utter  destruction,  without  a  remnant  of  any  kind  whatever, 
he  says:  "He  shall  break  it  as  the  breaking  of  the  potter’s  vessel  that  is 
broken  in  pieces;  he  shall  not  spare;  so  that  there  shall  not  be  found  in  the 
bursting  of  it  a  sherd  to  take  fire  from  the  hearth,  or  to  take  water  withal 
out  of  the  pit”  (Isa.  xxx:  14).  The  potter’s  work  is  one  of  great  dexterity. 
With  a  mass  of  clay  in  his  hands,  he  sets  his  wheel  revolving,  and  as  the 
wheel  turns,  he  moulds  the  clay  into  the  required  shape,  so  that  the  plastic 
material  seems  to  obey  his  very  thought.  The  image  of  the  potter  fash¬ 
ioning  the  clay  is  often  used  in  Holy  Scriptures,  as  in  Isaiah,  lxiv:  8:  "But 
now,  O  Lord,  Thou  art  our  Father;  we  are  the  clay,  and  Thou  our  potter; 
and  we  are  all  the  work  of  Thy  hand.”  This  figure  of  speech  has  been 
pushed  to  great  extremes  in  controversy;  but  God’s  government  is  never  to 
be  asserted  in  such  a  way  as  to  set  aside  the  divine  fatherhood,  to  which 
the  prophet  here  refers  as  belonging  to  the  very  conception  of  divine  gov¬ 
ernment. 

We  have  noticed  the  innumerable  dogs  which  do  the  work  of  scav¬ 
engers  at  Joppa,  and  we  have  observed  that  in  the  day  hours  they 
make  no  noise.  The  prophet  Isaiah  (Ivi:  10)  compares  the  unfaithful 
prophets  of  Israel  to  lazy  dogs:  "His  watchmen  are  all  blind;  they  are  all 
dumb  dogs,  they  cannot  bark;  sleeping,  lying  down,  loving  to  slumber.” 


56 


JOPPA. 


But  if  the  dogs  are  silent  during  the  day,  they  make  amply  up  for  it  in  the 
hours  of  the  night,  which  they  make  hideous  with  their  yelping,  barking 
and  howling.  The  psalmist  compares  his  cruel  enemies  to  dogs  that  “return 
at  evening.  They  make  a  noise  like  a  dog,  and  go  round  about  the  city; 
they  belch  with  their  mouth.  Let  them  wander  up  and  down  for  meat, 
and  grudge  if  they  be  not  satisfied”  (Psa.  lix:  6,  15).  Cowardly  as  they 
are  in  daylight,  they  are  dangerous  at  night;  so  David  says:  “Dogs  have 

compassed  me!  Save  my  darling 
from  the  power  of  the  dog”  (Psa. 
xxii:  16,20).  After  sunset  the  dogs 
need  no  provocation  to  raise  their 
voices;  the  sound  of  every  footstep 
sets  them  off  in  a  fresh  outbreak  of 
vociferous  noise.  It  was  a  striking 
figure,  therefore,  which  the  Lord 
used  when  He  declared  to  Moses 
that  in  the  night  which  should  strike 
terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Egypt¬ 
ians,  “not  a  dog  should  move  his 
tongue  against  any  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  against  man  or  beast”  (Exod. 
xi:  7). 

The  birds  for  sale  in  the  bazaar 
may  remind  us  of  the  love  of  orien¬ 
tals  for  feathered  songsters,  wild  and 
tame.  The  bride  in  the  Canticles 
(ii :  12)  when  speaking  of  the  joyful 
coming  of  her  beloved,  as  though  he  had  brought  the  spring  tide  with 
him,  says:  “The  flowers  appear  on  the  earth;  the  time  of  the  singing  of 
birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  the  land.”  The 
Lord,  reasoning  with  Job  and  showing  the  weakness  of  man,  asks  him: 
“Canst  thou  draw  out  Leviathan  with  a  hook?  Wilt  thou  play  with 
him  as  with  a  bird?  or  wilt  thou  bind  him  for  thy  maidens?”  (Job  xli: 
1,  5).  Doubtless  the  poor  birds  exposed  for  sale  in  the  time  of  Jere' 
miah,  as  they  are  now,  were  not  too  carefully  kept  while  awaiting  a 


JOPPA. 


57 


purchaser;  and  the  unclean  cage  furnishes  a  biting  simile  to  the  indignant 
prophet:  “As  a  cage  is  full  of  birds,  so  are  their  houses  full  of  deceit” 
(Jer.  v:  27).  The  birds  seem  generally  to  have  been  taken  with  snares, 
not  robbed  from  the  parent  nest;  and  the  snaring  of  birds  is  a  familiar  fig¬ 
ure  in  the  Old  Testament.  Thus  Solomon  says:  “Surely  in  vain  the  net 
is  spread  in  the  sight  of  any  birds.”  (Prov.  i:  17). 

The  chaffering  and  cheapening  which  attends  every  sale  in  an  oriental 
bazaar,  is  just  as  Solomon  observed  thousands  of  years  ago;  the  seller  ask¬ 
ing  many  times  the  value  of  his  wares,  and  extolling  their  excellence  in 
the  loftiest  and  most  solemn  phrases,  while  the  buyer  declares  that  they 
are  worth  absolutely  nothing;  and  each  boasting  afterward  of  his  success 
in  overreaching  the  other.  The  whole  course  of  the  transaction  is  pithily 
put  in  the  observation  of  the  wise  man:  “It  is  naught,  it  is  naught,  saith 
the  buyer;  but  when  he  is  gone  his  way,  then  he  boasteth.”  (Prov.  xx:  14). 

We  can  hardly  do  more  than  just  notice  a  remark,  that  one  of  the 
most  touching  of  our  Saviour’s  sayings  may  have  had  its  immediate  sug¬ 
gestion  in  the  passing  by  of  a  porter  bearing  one  of  the  enormous  loads 
under  which  Eastern  porters  often  stagger.  If  it  were  so,  these  words 
would  be  doubly  significant:  “Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest!”  (Matt,  xi:  28.) 

The  woman  whom  we  met  with  her  face  tattooed  recalls  to  us  the  love 
of  that  unpleasant  sort  of  ornamentation  which  existed  in  ancient  times. 
Moses  forbade  it  to  be  practiced  by  the  Israelites  (Lev.  xix:28)  but  it 
seems  that  sacred  marks  were  permitted  to  be  made  on  the  hands  and 
forehead  (Exod.  xiii:9).  In  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  we  read  of  the  seal¬ 
ing  of  the  servants  of  God  in  their  foreheads  (Rev.  vii :  3),  which  certainly 
implies  some  sort  of  visible  marking.  But  by  far  the  most  striking  pas¬ 
sage  which  borrows  its  poetic  language  from  this  practice  is  in  the  proph¬ 
ecy  of  Isaiah  where  God  says  to  Zion,  “Behold  I  have  graven  thee  upon 
the  palms  of  my  hands;  thy  walls  are  continually  before  me.”  (Isa.  xlix: 
i5>  l6)- 

The  beautiful  gardens  of  the  suburb  of  Joppa,  each  surrounded  with 
its  inpenetrable  hedge  of  prickly  pear,  remind  us  of  the  figure  in  which  the 
Beloved  one  of  the  Song  of  Songs  proclaims  his  joy  in  the  thought  that 
his  bride  is  altogether  his  own.  “A  garden  enclosed,”  he  says,  “is  my 


58 


JOPPA. 


sister,  my  spouse!”  (Cant.  iv:i2).  It  is  a  beautiful  simile;  it  is  as  chaste 
as  it  is  beautiful;  and  the  rest  of  the  same  chapter  abounds  in  references 
to  springs,  walls,  fountains,  gardens  and  the  manifold  fruits  of  orchards, 
such  as  would  occur  only  to  a  poet  to  whom  gardens  were  familiar.  The 
fruitfulness  and  beauty  of  the  gardens' of  Joppa  is  due  to  constant  irriga¬ 
tion,  without  which  the  light  sandy  soil  would  be  sterile.  The  water  is 
conveyed  to  them,  as  we  have  seen,  in  trenches,  and  then  in  smaller 
streams  to  every  part  of  the  soil.  Water  is  the  life  of  the  garden,  for  the 
soil  seems  to  need  nothing  but  water  to  made  it  bloom  with  flowers  and 
abound  with  fruit.  How  appropriate,  then,  is  the  promise  of  Jeremiah  and 
Isaiah,  “Their  soul  shall  be  as  a  watered  garden;  and  they  shall  not  sor¬ 
row  any  more  at  all!”  (Jer.  xxxi:  12;  Isa.  lviii :  1 1).  The  Psalmist  likens 
the  righteous  man  to  “a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water”  bearing  its 
fruit  in  due  season,  and  never  parched  with  drought  (Psa.  1:3);  but  if  we 
adopt  the  translation  of  the  Westminster  Version  which  says  streams  in¬ 
stead  of  rivers ,  the  image  is  more  striking.  It  refers  to  the  fruit  tree  of 
the  irrigated  orchard  to  which  the  water  is  brought  in  streams  as  it  is 
needed,  which  is  always  protected  from  drought,  and  the  fruitfulness  of 
which  is  like  that  of  trees  in  the  biarahs  of  Joppa.  There  every  tree  re¬ 
ceives  the  moisture  it  requires;  a  human  providence  cares  for  it  as  the 
divine  providence  watches  over  and  cares  for  the  course  of  all  human 
events.  Men  often  act  in  self-will,  and,  as  they  think,  wholly  of  them¬ 
selves;  but  in  that  they  are  mistaken.  God  guides  their  doing  more  than 
they  themselves  do.  Even  of  kings  Solomon  says,  and  in  the  gardens  of 
Joppa  we  can  realize  the  meaning  of  the  figure,  “The  king’s  heart  is  in  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  as  the  streams  of  water;  He  turneth  it  whithersoever  He 
will”  (Prov.  xxi:  1).  No  part  of  a  garden  dependent  on  irrigation  can  be 
neglected,  the  water  must  be  made  to  reach  it  all,  and  where  the  larger 
streamlets  are  not  sufficient  to  reach  the  plants,  smaller  channels  are  made 
through  the  sand  with  the  foot  of  the  laborer,  so  that  all  parts  of  the. 
garden  may  be  supplied.  It  is  to  this  method  of  irrigation  that  reference 
is  made  in  Deuteronomy  where  it  is  said  that  “in  Egypt  thou  sowedst  thy 
seeds  and  wateredst  with  thy  foot,  as  a  garden  of  herbs”  (Deut.  xi:io). 
In  the  greater  part  of  Palestine  no  such  irrigation  was  required. 

The  importance  of  fruit  trees  at  the  East  is  very  great;  fruit,  indeed. 


JOPPA, 


59 


forms  no  small  part  of  the  food  of  the  people.  For  trees  that  bear  no 
fruit  there  is  little  care  or  admiration;  “every  tree  that  bringeth  not  forth 
good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  used  for  firewood”  (Matt,  iii :  io;  Luke  iii : 9). 
Trees  are  known  and  judged  by  their  fruits;  as  our  Saviour  says:  “men  do 
not  gather  grapes  of  thorns  nor  figs  of  thistles”  (Matt,  vii:  15-20).  The 
Christian  life  is  a  fruitful  life;  Jesus  says,  “Herein  is  my  Father  glorified, 


THE  VISION  OF  PETER  AT  JOPPA. — ACTS  X. 


that  ye  bear  much  fruit;  so  shall  ye  be  my  disciples”  (John  xv:8);  and  the 
fruit  of  the  Christian  life,  which  St.  Paul  calls  “the  fruit  of  the  Spirit”  (or 
more  properly,  the  “fruit  of  the  tight"),  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long  suffering, 
gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance  (Gal.  v:22,  23).  What 
must  heaven  be — the  paradise,  or  garden,  of  God — where  all  the  living 
trees  are  full  of  fruits  like  these! 

Looking  down  from  gardens  of  Joppa  to  the  westward,  we  cannot  but 


6o 


JOPPA. 


think  of  the  profound  impression  which  the  “great  and  wide  sea,”  with  its 
wealth  of  strange  inhabitants,  and  with  the  ships  sailing  on  its  treacherous 
surface,  made  upon  the  ancient  Hebrews  (Psa.  civ:  25,  26).  The  Israelites 
were  not  sailors,  and  the  wonders  of  the  deep  impressed  them  with  an 
awful  admiration.  It  was  among  their  sublime  thoughts  of  the  greatness 
of  God  that  he  has  set  to  the  sea  his  decree  so  that  its  waters  may  not 
pass  his  commandment  (Prov.  viir.29);  that  he  gathereth  its  waters  in  an 
heap  (Psa.  xxxiii:7);  and  that,  when  storms  arise,  he  stilleth  the  noise  of 
their  waves,  as  he  stills  the  madness  of  the  people  (Psa.  lxv.7).  “The 
waves  of  the  sea  are  mighty,”  says  the  Psalmist,  “and  rage  horribly;  but 
yet  the  Lord  who  dwelleth  on  high  is  mightier”  (Psa.  xciii:4,  Prayer  Book 
Version).  In  the  one  hundred  and  seventh  psalm  we  have  a  hymn  of  the 
storm. 

Psalm  cvii:  23-31 

They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships, 

That  are  occupied  in  business  on  the  great  waters, 

These  men  see  the  works  of  the  Lord; 

They  behold  his  wonders  in  the  deep! 

For  He  commandeth  the  stormy  winds  to  rise; 

He  lifteth  up  the  waves, 

They  mount  up  to  the  heavens; 

They  go  down  again  to  the  depths; 

Their  soul  is  melted  with  the  trouble, 

They  reel  to  and  fro; 

They  stagger  like  a  drunken  man; 

They  are  at  their  wits’  end. 

Then  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble, 

And  He  delivereth  them  out  of  their  distress. 

He  maketh  the  storm  a  calm, 

So  that  the  waves  thereof  are  still, 

Then  are  they  glad  because  of  the  quiet, 

And  so  He  bringeth  them  unto  the  haven  where  they  would  be. 

Oh  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness, 

And  for  his  wonderful  works  among  the  children  of  men! 

The  aspect  of  the  sea  wh'en  tossed  in  a  tempest  and  the  triumphant, 
but  peaceful  rolling  of  the  waves  in  times  of  calm  furnished  the  prophet 


JOPPA.  6r 

with  symbols  of  the  lives  of  the  wicked  and  the  righteous.  “The  wicked,” 

he  said,  “are  like  the  troubled  sea  when  it  cannot  rest,  whose  waters  cast 

up  mire  and  dirt”  (Isa.  lvii:  20).  And  in  another  place  he  says,  “Oh  that 

thou  hadst  hearkened  to  my  commandments!  Then  had  thy  peace  been 

like  a  river,  and  thy  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  the  sea!”  (Isa.  xlviii:  18).  1 

To  St.  John  in  the  lonely  island  of  Patmos,  where  many  of  the  visions  of 

his  apocalypse  were  perhaps  suggested  by  the  storms  which  raged  during 

an  eruption  of  a  volcanic  islet  not  far  off,  the  sea  was  an  object  of  dread. 

In  the  end  of  all  the  world’s  commotions  he  figures  the  all-pervading  peace 
by  the  sublime  phrase  that  there  shall  be  “no  more  sea!”  (Rev.  xxi:  1).  “No 
more  sea,  except  the  sea  of  glass,  like  unto  crystal,  before  the  throne  of 
God!”  (Rev.  iv:6). 

I 

A  single  morning  spent  in  Joppa  furnishes  many  illustrations  of  Holy 
Scripture.  In  our  journeys  through  Holy  Land  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
apply  what  falls  under  our  observation  in  quite  so  much  detail.  The  ex¬ 
amples  just  given  are  chiefly  meant  to  show  how  much  one  may  gather  out 
of  Holy  Scripture  with  no  other  assistance  than  that  of  a  good  concordance.. 


CHAPTER  II. 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

Physical  Divisions  of  Palestine — First  Section,  The  Maritime  Plains — Coast  of  Tyre  and  Sidon — Ladder 
of  Tyre—  From  the  Ladder  to  Mount  Carmel — The  Plain  of  Sharon — The  Plain  of  Philistia — Sec¬ 
ond  Section,  The  Mountainous  Region — Its  Physical  Character — Third  Section,  The  Jordan  Val¬ 
ley — Sources  of  the  Jordan  at  Banias — Fall  of  the  River — The  Ghor — The  Dead  Sea — Mountains 
of  Sodom — Fourth  Section,  The  Mountains  of  Bashan — The  Hauran— Gilead — Heshbon — Moab 
■ — Roads  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem — The  Road  by  Ramleh — Arimathaea — Tower  of  Ramleh — Vaults 
— View  from  the  Tower — El  Kobab — Gezer — Latrun— Emmaus — Karyet  el-Enab,  Kirjath-jearim 
— Bethshemesh — Khurbet  Erma — Kastal — Kulonieh— Second  Road;  by  Lydda — Yazur — Beit 
Dejan — Ono — Rentiyeh — Jehud — Dense  Population  in  Ancient  Times — Lydda — Neballat — Hadid 
— The  Hittites — St.  Peter  at  Lydda — Church  of  St.  George — Gimzo — Beth-horon,  the  Lower — 
Beth-horon,  the  Upper — Valley  of  Ajalon — Battle  of  Beth-horon — Second  Battle  of  Beth-horon — 
Third  Battle  of  Beth-horon — Gibeon — Flelkath-hazzurim— Duel  at  the  Pool  of  Gibeon — Death  of 
Joab — Solomon’s  Choice — Neby  Samwil — Mizpeh — Eben-ezer — God  Save  the  King — King  Richard 
at  Mount  Joy — Samuel’s  Birth-place,  Home  and  Place  of  Burial — Samuel’s  Tomb — Valley  of 
Gihon — Valley  of  Rephaim  or  Perazim — Valley  of  Roses — House  of  Simeon — Deir  Mar  Elyas — 
Rachel’s  Tomb. 

THE  leading  purpose  of  this  book 
is  to  illustrate  the  beautiful  life  of 
our  Saviour  by  describing  the 
places  in  the  beautiful  land  of  Pal¬ 
estine  which  He  made  sacred  by 
his  presence  and  ministry,  the 
natural  point  at  which  to  begin  our 
survey  would  be  Bethlehem,  the 
place  of  His  nativity.  At  Bethle¬ 
hem,  therefore,  we  shall  make  our 
real  beginning;  but  it  would  hardly 
be  possible  to  follow  our  Saviour’s  steps  intelligently  or  satisfactorily  with¬ 
out  at  least  some  general  conception  of  the  physical  characteristics  of  the 
country  in  which  He  lived  and  journeyed.  It  will  be  well,  therefore, 
at  this  point,  to  take  a  glance  at  the  admirable  map  of  Captain  Conder, 
and  then  to  examine  the  ancient  and  modern  roads  which  lead  from  Joppa 
to  Bethlehem,  before  we  proceed  to  follow  the  course  of  our  Saviour’s  pil¬ 
grimage  from  Bethlehem  to  the  Mount  of  the  Ascension. 

62 


Itonfts 


PHYSICAL  MAP 

of  the 

HOLY  LAME) 


English.  Miles 


KENATH^m 


N  AZARETH  o, 


Crocodile  R 


-2*30- 


^  A  S  A-  - 

'90.  4- 


.  3076] 
if7  E  hf 


§^Oo/c,^rt7UlA 


L^lii 


Ss&® 


■%- 

2600 


/-Vin/irtyA  .  T  Jk  T  Clark 


C.R  Co&dev. K£. 


I 


M 


I 


* 


■ 


1 

•  - 

’  ' 


* 


■  ; 


- 


* 


1  • 


•  ■  * 


,  „ 

> 

-  • 

v  *  -  -;:jS 

5 

: 


■  • 


.? 
! 


* 


i 


■ 


* 

► 


'  -  •  ■■  '• 


■■ 


> 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


65 


It  takes  nothing  more  than  a  glance  at  Captain  Conder's  map  to  dis¬ 
cover  that  the  Holy  Land  is  naturally  divided  by  its  physical  features  into 
four  sections,  running  generally  north  and  south. 

The  first  section  includes  the  coast  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  a  narrow  strip 
of  low  land  lying  along  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  widening  to  "1 

the  southward.  It  is  not  continuous,  but  is  broken  at  three  points  into 
four  divisions.  Beyond  Tyre,  at  the  north,  the  first  division  is  so  narrow 
as  not  to  appear  at  all,  and  about  fifteen  miles  to  the  south  of  Tyre,  it  is 
cut  off  by  a  bold  spur  of  the  mountains,  called  the  Ladder  of  Tyre ,  pro¬ 
jecting  into  the  sea.  The  second  division  of  the  plain  opens  to  a  width  of 
three  or  four  miles,  and  extends  from  the  Ladder  of  Tyre  to  Mount  Carmel. 

A  third  division,  nowhere  wider  than  seven  or  eight  miles,  and  extending 
from  the  foot  of  Carmel  to  a  range  of  hills  somewhat  south  of  Joppa,  is 
called  the  Plain  of  Sharon.  The  last  division,  which  extends  thirty-two 
miles  southward,  and  varies  in  width  from  nine  to  sixteen  miles,  is  the 
Plain  of  Philistia,  or  the  Land  of  the  Philistines.  Beyond  it,  to  the  south, 
lies  the  wilderness  of  Shur. 

The  second  section  of  the  Holy  Land  is  the  mountainous  region  lying 
between  the  maritime  plain  and  the  Jordan.  It  is  a  branch  of  the  Lebanon 
range,  and  is  of  an  average  height  of  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet,  though  some 
peaks  are  higher,  and  many  are  lower.  The  range  is  broken  by  the  Plain 
of  Esdraelon,  extending  from  the  base  of  Mount  Carmel  to  within  a  mile  or 
two  of  the  Jordan,  with  the  Nazareth  hills  and  Mount  Tabor  to  the  north, 
and  the  Hills  of  Samaria  and  Mount  Gilboa  to  the  south.  Just  beyond 
the  northern  limit  of  this  plain  is  Nazareth.  The  water-shed  of  the  moun¬ 
tain  region  drains  westward  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  eastward  into 
the  Jordan.  As  the  map  shows,  the  mountains  are  extremely  irregular; 
the  streams,  too,  are  peculiar.  Sir  C.  Warren,  writing  of  the  Plain  of 
Philistia,  says;  “Philistia  consists  of  an  undulating  plain,  from  50  to  100 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  To  the  east  of  this  the  hills  commence, 
not  the  hill  country,  but  a  series  of  low  spurs  and  undulating  ground,  cul¬ 
minating  in  hogs’  backs,  running  nearly  north  and  south,  and  rising  in 
places  to  1,200  feet  above  the  ocean.  To  the  east  of  these  there  is  a  steep 
descent  of  500  feet  or  so,  and  to  the  east  of  these  declivities,  again  the  hill 
country  commences.  In  two  or  three  miles  we  rise  to  altitudes  of  1,700  to 


1 


66  FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

2,000  feet — the  backbone  of  the  country  being  at  an  elevation  of  2,400  to 
3,000  feet.  In  the  hill  country  the  spurs,  not  more  than  a  mile  or  so  apart, 
are  often  separated  by  narrow  ravines  1,500  to  2,000  feet  deep,  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  which,  in  the  rainy  season,  rapid  torrents  roll.  Follow  them  into 


SOURCE  OF  THE  JORDON  AT  BANIAS. 

the  plain  and  see  what  becomes  of  them .  The  fact  is,  the  bulk  of 

the  water  reaches  the  ocean  underground;  on  arising  to  the  plain,  it  forms 
marshes  and  pools,  and  quietly  sinks  away,  while  the  bed  of  the  stream 
itself,  in  the  plain,  is  merely  a  narrow  ditch,  some  six  feet  wide  and  four 
feet  deep.  You  may  leave  the  water  at  the  commencement  of  the  wady 
mouth,  ride  over  the  plain  without  seeing  any  of  it,  and  meet  it  again  well- 


KEHAK 


Oran-  or  Alt.  163  „  . 

?  <  i>  f  if 


SKETCH  MAP  OF  THE  DEAD  SEA. 


68 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

ing  out  of  the  ground  close  to  the  sea  shore,  forming  wide  lagoons  there.  .  . 
Now,  if  proper  precautions  were  taken,  were  the  people  industrious,  and 
the  country  cultivated  and  clothed  again  with  trees,  the  water  flowing  in 
the  ravines  might  be  conducted  over  the  plains  in  the  early  summer  months, 
and  induce  the  rich  soil  to  yield  a  second  crop.”  The  fact  here  mentioned 
by  Sir  C.  Warren,  that  the  mountain  torrents  of  Palestine  reach  the 
ocean  underground,  explains  why  water  can  always  be  found  in  the  Plain 
of  Sharon  and  the  Plain  of  Philistia  by  digging  only  a  few  feet  below  the 
surface. 

The  third  section  of  the  Holy  Land  is  the  Jordan  Valley,  which 
begins  at  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Banias,  the 
ancient  Csesarea  Philippi.  The  principal  source  is  curious.  It  is  not  a 
spring,  as  that  word  is  commonly  understood;  the  water  simply  gushes 
from  under  accumulated  stones  near  the  mouth  of  a  cave,  and  flows  at 
once  in  a  good  sized  stream,  not  over,  but  from  under,  a  mill-dam,  with  no 
visible  source  beyond.  Between  Banias  and  Lake  Huleh  or  the  Waters  of 
Merom,  the  Jordan  descends  nearly  1,100  feet  toward  sea  level,  since  Ba¬ 
nias  is  i, 080  and  Lake  Huleh  is  only  seven  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
At  Lake  Huleh  the  valley  is  four  miles  broad,  and  the  surface  of  the  lake 
is  about  four  miles  in  length,  but  marshes,  covered  with  the  most  exten¬ 
sive  growth  of  papyrus  which  is  known  to  exist  anywhere,  stretch  for  miles 
to  the  north  of  the  lake.  Between  Lake  Huleh  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee  the 
river  plunges  through  a  narrow  gorge  and  rushes  for  nine  out  of  eleven 
miles  as  a  foaming  torrent  to  the  southern  lake.  Entering  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  on  the  north,  the  Jordan  leaves  it  at  the  southern  end,  and  thence 
descends  to  the  Dead  Sea,  a  distance  of  sixty-five  miles  as  the  crow  flies, 
but  the  winding  channel  of  the  river  is  two  hundred  miles  in  length.  Its 
course  is  always  rapid,  since  the  fall  is  very  great,  at  some  points  not  less 
than  forty  feet  to  the  mile.  Between  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead 
Sea  the  Ghor ,  or  sunken  valley  of  the  Jordan,  lies  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  but  is  nowhere  wide.  Where  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon  joins  it,  it  is 
about  eight  miles  wide.  Twenty-five  miles  below  the  Sea  of  Galilee  it  is 
contracted  to  a  width  of  two  miles.  Again  it  spreads  to  eight  miles,  and 
at  the  widest  it  forms  the  Plain  of  Jordan,  properly  so  called,  with  an  ex¬ 
treme  width  of  fourteen  miles. 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM 


69 


The  Dead  Sea  lies  nearly  1,300  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean,  so  that  in  its  course  from  Banias  the  Jordan  falls  nearly  2,500  feet. 
The  Dead  Sea,  as  we  now  call  it,  is  called  in  Scripture  the  Salt  Sea,  and 
the  Sea  of  Arabah,  that  is,  the  Sea  of  the  Plain  (Deut.  iii :  1 7).  By  the 
Arabs  it  is  called  Bahr  Lut,  or  Lot’s  Sea.  As  its  surface  is  1,300  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  as  it  is  in  some  places  1,300 
feet  deep,  its  bottom  is  just  about  as  much  below  sea  level  as  Jerusalem  is 
above  it.  On  both  sides  it  is  surrounded  by  steep  mountains.  It  has  no 
outlet  to  the  ocean;  and  indeed  if  any  communication  with  the  ocean 


SOUTH  END  OF  THE  DEAD  SEA. 


existed,  the  water  from  the  ocean  would  flow  into  the  Dead  Sea,  and  would 
flood  what  is  now  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan.  Lying  so  low,  and  being  on 
all  sides  surrounded  with  mountains,  the  heat  is  tropical  and  evaporation 
is  rapid.  As  in  other  inland  lakes  having  no  outlet  to  the  sea,  the  water  is 
intensely  salt,  three  pounds  of  it  yielding  one  pound  of  solid  salts.  Much 


70 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


of  this  salt,  however,  is  derived  from  the  gradual  washing  down  of  great 
hills  of  rock  salt,  three  hundred  feet  high,  called  Jebel  Usdum ,  or  the 
Mountain  of  Sodom,  which  lie  at  the  south  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  cover 
an  area  of  seven  miles  by  three.  From  the  bitumen  which  is  still  found  on 
the  shores  and  occasionally  floating  on  the  surface,  the  Dead  Sea  was 
sometimes  called  Lake  Asphaltites.  A  large  mine  of  bitumen  exists  at 

Hashbeya,  at  the  head  of  the  Jordan.  There  was  a  time,  long  before  the 

* 

earliest  records  of  history,  when  the  Dead  Sea  was  1,400  feet  higher  than 
it  is  now.  The  whole  Jordan  Valley  was  then  one  great  fresh-water  lake, 
and  was  probably  connected  with  a  chain  of  lakes  in  eastern  Africa.  The 
process  by  which  its  level  has  been  changed  has  left  marks  which  are  easily 
read  and  understood  by  the  geologist. 

The  fourth  (and  last)  section  of  the  Holy  Land  is  the  mountain 
range  and  plateau  lying  beyond  Jordan  and  spreading  out  to  the  eastward. 
It  is  a  prolongation  of  the  Anti-Lebanon  range.  From  Hermon  to  the 
river  Jabbok  lies  Bashan,  including  the  Hauran,  afterward  called  Auranitis, 
beyond  which  lay  Bozra  or  Bostra.  Joining  Bashan  and  extending  some 
twenty-five  miles  southward  to  Heshbon,  lay  Gilead,  and  beyond  Heshbon, 
still  to  the  south,  lay  the  land  of  Moab.  In  the  partition  of  the  land 
among  the  tribes,  Bashan,  speaking  roughly,  fell  to  the  lot  of  Manasseh; 
Gilead,  from  the  southern  line  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  the  northern  line  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  was  apportioned  to  Gad;  Moab  to  the  River  Arnon  was  the 
possession  of  Reuben;  while  the  rest  of  Moab  continued  to  belong  to  the 
original  inhabitants.  The  eastern  part  of  the  Holy  Land  is  of  the  greatest 
interest.  Its  condition  of  fertility  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  compara¬ 
tive  desolation  of  the  hill  country  on  the  western  side  of  Jordan,  and,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  nearly  the  whole  land  was  once  as  delightsome  and 
prolific  as  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan  still  is.  It  is  the  wanton  havoc 
of  war,  and  especially  the  ruthless  destruction  of  trees,  that  have  produced 
the  barrenness  which  is  now  so  bleak  and  repulsive  in  the  hill  country 
west  of  the  Jordan.  In  this  connection  the  following  extract  from  Canon 
Tristram  will  be  read  with  interest. 

“No  one”  (he  says)  “can  fairly  judge  of  Israel’s  heritage  who  has  not 
seen  thejuxuriant  exuberance  of  Gilead,  as  well  as  the  hard  rocks  of  Judea, 
which  can  only  yield  their  abundance  to  reward  constant  toil  and  care.  To 


END  OF  THE 


ss 

o 

so 

H 

X 


D 

W 

> 

O 

vj 

M 

> 


I 


\ 


* 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM.  73 

compare  the  two  is  to  contrast  nakedness  and  luxuriance.  Yet  the  present 
state  of  Gilead  is  just  what  western  Palestine  was  in  the  days  of  Abraham. 
Subsequently  the  Canaanites  must  have  extensively  cleared  it.  Even 
before  the  Conquest,  and  while  the  slopes  and  terraces  were  clad  with  olive 
groves,  the  amount  of  ram-fall  was  not  affected.  The  terraces  have  crum¬ 
bled  away;  wars  and  neglect  have  destroyed  the  groves  until  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  any  two  neighboring  districts  more  strangely  contrasted 
than  the  east  and  west  of  Jordan.  Put  this  is  simply  caused  by  the  greater 


RAMLEH. 


amount  of  rain-fall  on  the  east  side,  attracted  by  the  forests,  which 
have  perished  off  the  opposite  hills.  The  area  of  drainage  is  about  the 
same  on  each  side.  The  ravines  or  wadys  are  numerous;  but  few  of  the 
streams  are  perennial  on  the  west — all  are  so  on  the  east.  Every  stream 
draining  from  Moab  and  Gilead  is  filled  with  fishes  and  fresh-water  shells. 
I  never  found  living  fresh-water  shells  but  in  two  streams  on  the  west  side. 
In  other  words,  the  brooks  are  now  but  winter  torrents.” 

After  the  cursory  survey  of  the  physical  features  of  Palestine,  we  may 
next  examine  the  roads  which  lead  from  Joppa  to  Bethlehem. 


74 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


Over  the  road  which  is  customarily  taken  by  modern  travelers  two 
omnibuses  run  daily  to  and  from  Jerusalem.  The  journey  occupies  eleven 
or  twelve  hours,  and  the  fare  is  only  two  dollars.  Bethlehem,  of  course,  is 
about  five  miles  further,  and  there  is  no  omnibus  from  Jerusalem  to  Beth¬ 
lehem.  Along  the  way  are  places  of  considerable  interest,  though  they  are 
by  no  means  so  majestic  or  romantic  as  those  through  which  the  traveler 
passes  on  the  ancient  road,  which  is  to  the  north  of  the  other,  and  at  no 
point  more  distant  from  it  than  about  six  miles.  We  shall  describe  the 
modern  road  first. 

A  ride  of  a  little  more  than  three  hours  (thirteen  miles),  nearly  in  a 
straight  line  to  the  southwest  of  Joppa,  brings  us  into  full  view  of  the  Tower 
of  Rami  eh,  the  most  prominent  object  in  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  Ramleh  has 
not  been  identified  with  any  place  mentioned  in  Scripture.  There  is  in¬ 
deed  a  mediaeval  tradition  that  it  is  the  ancient  Ramathaim  or  Arimathcea , 
the  home  of  the  “honorable  counsellor”  who  refused  to  take  part  in  the 
“counsel  and  deed”  of  the  murderers  of  Christ,  and  whose  new  tomb,  near 
the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  was  used  as  the  sepulcher  of  the  crucified  Redeemer. 
St.  Jerome  says  that  Arimathaea  was  not  far  from  Diospolis  or  Lydda,  and 
Ramleh  is  only  about  four  miles  south  of  Lydda;  but  Rentiyeh ,  which  is 
seven  miles  north  of  Lydda,  would  answer  that  description  nearly  as  well, 
and  the  name  Rentiyeh  is  more  likely  then  Ramleh  to  have  been  derived 
from  the  ancient  Ramathaim.  The  name  of  Ramleh  appears  to  be  of 
purely  Arabic  origin,  since  the  Arabic  word  ramleh  signifies  sand,  and 
Ramleh  is  situated  in  a  sandy  plain.  There  is  no  account  of  the  place 
more  ancient  than  the  date  of  Arab  occupation,  and  the  Arabian  historians 
tell  us  that  it  was  founded  by  Suleiman,  son  of  the  Khalif  Abd  el  Melik, 
early  in  the  eighth  century.  Certain  it  is  that  Ramleh  was  a  great  and 
prosperous  city  before  the  date  of  the  Crusades.  It  was  probably  as  large 
as  Jerusalem,  or  larger,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  with  four  principal 
gates  and  eight  smaller  gates.  It  was  provided  with  an  extensive  system 
of  water  conduits  and  subterranean  reservoirs.  Christians  lived  at  Ram¬ 
leh,,  and  had  no  less  than  four  churches;  but  they  had  no  bishop  until  the 
time  of  the  Crusades,  when  a  Bishopric  of  Lydda  and  Ramleh  was  estab¬ 
lished.  After  experiencing  various  fortunes  during  the  Crusades,  Ramleh 
had  a  long  period  of  prosperity,  but  at  length  fell  into  comparative  decay. 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


77 


It  has  now  about  3,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  one-third  are  Christians  of  the 
Greek  Church.  The  climate  is  mild  and  salubrious,  and  is  at  once  more 
agreeable  than  that  of  Jerusalem  and  more  healthy  than  that  of  Joppa. 
Like  Joppa,  it  is  surrounded  with  extensive  and  luxuriant  orchards.  The 
olive,  the  fig  tree,  the  carob  and  the  sycamore  abound,  but  the  palm  tree, 
though  it  adds  to  the  beauty  of  the  landscape,  does  not  bear  fruit.  The 
land  is  amazingly  fertile  and  the  fields  devoted  to  agriculture  are  sur¬ 
rounded  with  dense  hedges  of  gigantic  cactus,  in  which  a  multitude  of  birds 
make  their  nests. 

The  approach  to  Ramleh  is  lovely,  but  a  nearer  view  reveals  less  at¬ 
tractive  features.  Its  lanes  (for  they  can  hardly  be  called  streets),  are  ter¬ 
ribly  crooked  and  are  infested  by  an  unlimited  number  of  curs,  which  are 
hairless  with  mange.  Here  and  there,  too,  are  heaps  of  gray  ashes  de¬ 
posited  from  the  soap  factories,  which  have  been  in  operation  for  many 
centuries.  When  the  wind  blows,  the  air  is  filled  with  fine  particles  of  the 
pungent  alkaline  ash,  which  causes  a  general  inflammation  of  the  eyes  of  the 
inhabitants.  It  is  believed  that  one-half  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  Ram¬ 
leh  are  either  totally  blind  or  have  some  chronic  disease  of  the  eyes.  The 
women,  however,  are  more  rigidly  secluded  and  more  closely  veiled  than 
in  any  other  town  in  Palestine,  and  are  consequently  less  affected  with  the 
prevalent  malady. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  town  is  the  principal  mosque,  once  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  of  St.  John,  a  large  building  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
by  seventy  feet  broad.  The  interior  consists  of  a  nave  and  two  aisles,  with 
the  principal  and  side  apses,  and  with  seven  bays  of  clustered  columns. 
Captain  Conder  pronounces  this  old  Christian  sanctuary,  now  perverted 
to  Mohammedan  worship,  to  be  “the  finest  and  best  preserved  church” 
he  has  seen  in  Palestine. 

The  most  striking  object  in  Ramleh  is  its  famous  White  lower,  so 
called  from  its  bright  color.  By  Christians  it  is  also  called  “the  Tower  of 
the  Forty  Martyrs,”  and  by  Mohammedans  “the  Tower  of  the  Forty 
Champions.”  It  doubtless  once  belonged  to  a  Christian  church,  long  since 
destroyed,  though  there  are  reasons  for  believing  that  it  must  have  been 
constructed  by  Arab  workmen  from  the  designs  of  a  European  aichitect. 
The  mosque  which  once  stood  by  the  tower  probably  replaced  a  Christian 


7S  FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

church  of  earlier  date,  and  was  surrounded  by  an  enclosure  of  six  hundred 
paces  in  circumference.  Under  the  area  thus  formerly  enclosed  there  are 
immense  vaults,  one  of  which  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  by  forty 


THE  TOWER  OF  RAMLEH. 

wide  and  twenty-five  deep.  Its  roof  is  supported  by  nine  square  columns. 
Christian  tradition  makes  this  vault  the  burying-place  of  Christian  martyrs; 
according  to  Mohammedan  tradition  it  is  the  sepulcher  of  forty  Moslem 
heroes.  It  seems  hardly  likely  that  such  a  vault  should  have  been  made 
for  such  a  purpose,  but  as  it  was  not  apparently  meant  for  a  cistern,  and 
could  hardly  have  been  intended  for  a  store-house,  the  original  purpose  of 
its  construction  is  quite  obscure.  The  tower  is  twenty-five  feet  square  at 


.  |j  ! 


’  1 


. 

1 


. 


•N 


■ 


/  1 


' 

■ 


' 


- 


■im 

n  UK 


- 


•  •  i. 

"  U  - 


- 


^  « 

vj| 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


81 


the  base  and  rises  to  a  height  of  about  one  hundred  feet.  It  is  ascended  by 
a  winding  stair  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  steps,  and  the  view  from  the 
top  is  the  finest  in  all  that  part  of  the  country.  In  the  near  foreground  are 
the  orchards,  gardens  and  fertile  fields  of  Ramleh.  To  the  north  and 
south  stretches  the  Plain  of  Sharon.  On  the  east  are  the  mountains  of 
Judea,  with  their  ruggedness  all  softened  in  the  distance.  On  the  west  the 
horizon  is  bounded  by  the  silvery  line  of  the  Mediterranean.  In  all  direc¬ 
tions  are  towns  or  villages  of  more  or  less  interest,  and  afar  off,  on  a  clear 
day,  can  be  seen  the  height  of  Neby  Samwil,  which  looks  down  upon  Jeru¬ 
salem.  By  common  consent  the  evening  is  the  best  time  for  this  view,  and 
Dr.  Thomson,  in  “The  Land  and  the  Book”,  gives  the  following  extract  from 
his  journal:  “The  view  from  the  top  of  the  tower  is  inexpressibly  grand. 
The  whole  Plain  of  Sharon,  from  the  mountains  of  Judea  and  Samaria  to 
the  sea,  and  from  the  foot  of  Carmel  to  the  sandy  deserts  of  Philistia,  lies 
spread  out  like  an  illuminated  map.  Beautiful  as  vast,  and  diversified  as 
beautiful,  the  eye  is  fascinated,  and  the  imagination  enchanted,  especially 
when  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  light  up  the  white  villages,  which  sit  or 
hang  upon  the  many-shaped  declivities  of  the  mountains.  Then  the 
lengthening  shadows  retreat  over  the  plain  and  ascend  the  hillsides,  while 
all  below  fades  out  of  view  under  the  misty  and  mellow  haze  of  summer’s 
'  twilight.  The  weary  reapers  return  from  their  toil,  the  flocks  come  peace¬ 
fully  to  their  folds,  and  the  solemn  hush  of  Nature  shutting  up  her  mani¬ 
fold  works  and  retiring  to  rest,  all  conspire  to  soothe  the  troubled  heart 
into  sympathetic  repose.  At  such  an  hour  I  saw  it  once  and  again,  and 
often  lingered  until  the  stars  looked  out  from  the  deep  sky,  and  the 
breezes  of  evening  shed  soft  dews  on  the  feverish  land.  What  a  paradise 
was  here  when  Solomon  reigned  in  Jerusalem,  and  sung  of  the  ‘roses  of 
Sharon !’  ” 

Leaving  Ramleh  and  following  the  direct  road  to  Jerusalem,  we  come 
in  two  hours  to  El-Kobab  (commonly  pronounced  Lobab),  which  is  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  Talmud,  but  not  in  Scripture;  and  about  two  miles  southwest 
from  El  Kobab,  is  Tell  Jezer,  which  has  been  positively  ascertained  to  be 
the  ancient  Gezer,  a  city  of  the  Canaanites  whose  king  was  overthrown  and 
its  inhabitants  exterminated  by  Joshua  (Josh.  x:33).  Gezer,  with  its  sub¬ 
urbs,  was  allotted  to  the  Levites,  of  the  family  of  Kohath  (Josh.  xxi:2i), 


82 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


but  other  Canaanites  took  possession  of  it  and  held  it  down  to  the  time  of 
Solomon.  They  probably  paid  tribute  to  Israel,  but  they  seemed  to  have  re¬ 
belled,  for  Gezer  was  taken  by  Pharaoh  and  burned  to  the  ground,  and  its 
site  was  given  to  his  daughter,  who  had  become  Solomon’s  wife.  The  city 
was  immediately  rebuilt  by  Solomon  (i  Kings  ix:  13),  and  its  name  does  not 
again  occur  in  the  history  of  Israel  until  after  the  captivity.  In  the  time 

of  the  Maccabees  it  was 
a  place  of  importance. 
Its  ruins  are  extensive, 
and  all  around  it  are 
quarries  of  basaltic  rock 
and  many  rock  tombs. 

About  three  miles 
further  along  the  road 
from  El  Kobab  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  is  Latrun,  a  village 
of  no  consequence  except 
on  account  of  the  tra¬ 
dition  connected  with  it. 
Its  name  is  supposed  to 
be  derived  from  the 
Latin  latro ,  a  thief,  and 
situated  as  it  is  in  a  moun¬ 
tainous  district,  it  may  in 
ancient  times  have  been 
infested  by  robbers.  Hence  arose  the  mediaeval  legend  that  Latrun  was 

the  home  of  the  penitent  thief,  and  perhaps  of  both  the  thieves  who 

\ 

were  crucified  with  Jesus. 

Near  at  hand  is  another  place  which  tradition  has  identified  with  a 
sacred  spot  in  Christian  history;  for,  half  a  mile  to  the  northwest  of  La¬ 
trun,  is  Amwas,  one  of  the  places  for  which  has  been  claimed  the  honor  of 
being  the  Emmaus  where  the  Saviour,  on  the  evening  of  his  resurrection, 
made  himself  known  to  two  of  his  disciples  in  the  breaking  of  bread  (Luke 
xxiv:  13-35).  The  objection  to  Amwas  as  the  Emmaus  of  the  Gospel  is  its 
distance  from  Jerusalem;  for  while  the  distance  of  Emmaus  from  Jerusalem 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


83 


is  said  by  St.  Luke  to  have  been  sixty  furlongs  (Luke  xxiv:i3),  the  dis¬ 
tance  from  Amwas  is  nearer  one  hundred  and  sixty.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  true  reading  of  St.  Luke  may  be  one  hundred  and  sixty  instead  of 
sixty,  and  also  that  there  may  have  been  a  mountain  path  which  would 
greatly  shorten  the  journey  between  the  two  places;  but  it  cannot  be  said 
that  either  of  these  suggestions  is  entirely  satisfactory.  Other  places  to  be 
mentioned  hereafter  may  be  much  more  probably  identified  with  the  sacred 
spot  where  the  risen  Saviour  expounded  to  the  two  wandering  disciples  “all 
the  scriptures  concerning  Himself”  (Luke  xxiv:2  7).  Amwas,  however,  is 
noteworthy  on  other  accounts.  It  is  mentioned  as  early  as  the  times  of 
the  Maccabees  (1  Macc.  iii :  40),  and  after  the  time  of  Christ  it  received  the 
name  of  Nicopolis  (the  City  of  Victory),  in  honor  of  the  Roman  triumphs. 
During  the  Christian  period  it  was  the  see  of  a  bishop.  It  has  no  antiqui¬ 
ties  of  importance  except  the  ruins  of  a  church  belonging  to  the  fourth 
century. 

Proceeding  along  the  road  to  Jerusalem,  after  passing  a  well  called 
Bir  Eyub  or  Job’s  Well,  and  a  convent  called  Deir  Eyub,  or  Job’s  Monas¬ 
tery,  we  come  at  length  to  Karyet-el-Enab ,  the  City  of  Grapes.  Until 
recently  this  was  believed,  almost  beyond  all  doubt,  to  be  the  ancient 
Kirj ath-j earim,  the  City  of  Forests,  one  of  the  four  cities  of  the  Gibeon- 
ites,  and  known  at  a  still  earlier  period  as  Kirjath-Baal,  the  City  of  Baal 
(Josh,  ix:  17;  xviii:  14).  Kirj  ath-j  earim  was  emphatically  a  “high  place,” 
being  2,360  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  to  its  eminence  doubtless 
was  due  the  fact  that  it  was  one  of  the  sanctuaries  of  Baal.  Probably  the 
reputation  of  sanctity  continued  to  cling  to  it  after  the  Israelitish  conquest, 
and  hence  the  request,  made  by  the  men  of  Bethshemesh  to  the  men  of  Kir- 
jath-jearim,  to  relieve  them  of  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  which  had  brought  them 
so  grievous  a  misfortune.  The  ark  of  the  covenant  had  been  taken  by  the 
Philistines  from  the  Israelites.  One  after  another  of  the  cities  of  Philistia 
had  been  visited  with  plagues,  until  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  set  the 
ark  upon  a  cart,  to  which  two  milch  kine  were  yoked,  and  the  kine  took 
the  straight  road  to  Bethshemesh.  There  the  Levites  received  the  ark 
with  due  solemnity,  but  the  people  were  guilty  of  an  act  of  profane  curi¬ 
osity,  for  which  they  were  visited  with  a  fearful  plague.  Then  they  said: 
“Who  is  able  to  stand  before  this  holy  Lord  God?  and  to  whom  shall  lie 


84  FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

go  up  from  us?”  And  they  sent  messengers  to  the  men  of  Kirjath-jearim, 
saying:  “The  Philistines  have  brought  again  the  ark  of  the  Lord.  Come 
ye  down  and  fetch  it  up  to  you.  And  the  men  of  Kirjath-jearim  came  and 
fetched  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  and  brought  it  into  the  house  of  Abinadab 
on  the  hill”  (i  Sam.  vi:  vii;  i),  where  it  remained  for  twenty  years.  Dr. 
Robinson  has  no  doubt  that  Karyet-el-Enab  is  the  true  site  of  the  ancient 
Kirjath-jearim;  but  Captain  Conder,  following  a  previous  suggestion,  con¬ 
cludes  that  the  true  site  is  at  Khurbet  Erma,  on  the  line  between  Beth- 
shemesh  and  Rachel’s  tomb,  near  Bethlehem.  Dr.  Robinson  is  also  of  the 


AMWAS. 

opinion  that  Karyet-el-Enab  was  afterward  called  Emmaus,  and  that  it  is 
the  Emmaus  of  St.  Luke.  In  point  of  distance  it  has  certainly  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  Amwas,  but  there  is  another  site  yet  to  be  mentioned,  which,  even 
in  this  respect,  has  the  advantage  of  Karyet. 

The  modern  village  of  Karyet-el-Enab  has  one  of  the  most  perfect 
Christian  ruins  in  all  Palestine.  It  is  an  ancient  church,  formerly  called 
the  Church  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,  on  account  of  a  mistaken  belief  that 
this  place  was  identical  with  Anathoth ,  the  prophet’s  birthplace.  This 
church  has  fared  worse  at  the  hands  of  the  Arabs  than  most  other  sacred 
Christian  edifices,  since  the  custom  of  the  Moslems  has  been  to  turn 
churches  into  mosques,  while  the  Church  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah  was 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM.  85 

turned  into  a  stable.  It  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Latins,  and  will  well 
repay  a  visit  from  the  traveler. 

Resuming  the  journey  from  Karyet,  we  come  first  to  Kastal ,  which  is 
of  no  interest  except  in  its  name,  which  shows  it  to  have  been  a  camp  or 
fortress  ( castellum )  of  the  Romans,  and  then  to  Kulonieh,  formerly  the  site 
of  a  Roman  colony  ( colonici ),  but  which  is  of  no  further  interest,  except 
that  it,  too,  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  Emmaus  of  St.  Luke.  Kulonieh, 
however,  is  as  much  too  near  to  Jerusalem  as  Amwas  is  too  far  off.  From 
Kulonieh  to  Jerusalem  the  distance  is  only  about  four  miles,  and  the  road 
has  no  point  of  Biblical  importance.  To  reach  Bethlehem,  we  have  but  to 
keep  the  broad  road  until  we  come  to  the  Jaffa  Gate,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Holy  City,  and  then  to  turn  southward.  As  the  more  ancient  route 
from  Joppa  to  Bethlehem  will  bring  us  to  the  same  point,  we  may  now 
turn  back  and  start  again  from  Joppa  along  that  route.  When  we  have 
again  reached  Jerusalem,  we  can  examine  the  road  thence  to  Bethlehem. 

Starting  again  from  Joppa  toward  Ludd,  which  is  the  first  point  of 
interest  on  our  present  route,  we  take  the  same  road  as  to  Ramleh  for 
nearly  four  miles,  until  we  come  to  the  small  Arab  village  of  Yazur.  There 
the  modern  road  through  Ramleh  to  Jerusalem  branches  a  little  more  to 
the  south,  while  Ludd  lies  almost  directly  to  the  southwest.  A  ride  of 
two  miles  further  brings  us  to  Beit  Dejan,  a  name  which  carries  our 
thoughts  back  to  the  times  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  more  than  thirty- 
three  centuries  ago,  and  even  to  the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xxi:  32,  34; 
xxvi:  1,  8),  three  hundred  years  earlier;  for  Beit  Dejan  is  the  modern 
Arabic  form  of  Beth-Dcigon,  the  House  of  Dagon,  and  through  all  those 
ages  this  place  has  retained  the  name  it  received  when  it  was  a  seat  of  the 
worship  of  the  false  god  of  the  Philistines.  Besides  the  name,  there  is 
nothing  to  arrest  our  attention  at  Beit  Dejan,  and  we  keep  on  our  way 
through  a  richly  cultivated  country.  In  half  an  hour  we  see  the  White 
Tower  of  Ramleh,  about  four  miles  to  the  south.  To  the-  north,  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  something  more  than  five  miles,  is  Kefr  Anna,  the  village  of  Auna 
(or  Ana)  no  doubt,  the  ancient  Ono  (1  Chron.  viii:  12),  which  at  one  time 
gave  its  name  to  the  plain  through  which  we  are  now  journeying  (Neh. 
vi:  2).  Three  miles  northwest  of  Kefr  Auna  is  Rentiyeh,  which  has  been 
already  mentioned  as  a  conjectured  site  of  Arimathsea.  Between  Kefr 


86  FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

Auna  and  Rentiyeh,  though  not  in  a  direct  line,  is  El-Yahudiveh,  which 
Dr.  Robinson  supposes  to  be  the  Jehud  of  the  Tribe  of  Dan  (Josh, 
xix:  45).  As  we  pass  through  this  region  and  observe  the  numerous  vil¬ 
lages,  we  are  prepared  to  understand  how  densely  it  was  populated  in 
ancient  times.  The  surveyors  of  the  Palestine  Fund  have  sometimes  dis¬ 
covered  the  remains  of  as  many  as  three  ancient  towns  within  the  space  of 
two  square  miles;  and  the  unlimited  fertility  of  the  plain,  which  is  pro- 


CHRIST  AT  EMMAUS.  LUKE  XXIV:  28. 

‘'And  they  drew  nigh  unto  the  village ,  and  He  made  as  though  He  would  have  gone  further." 

duced  by  a  rude  system  of  irrigation,  shows  it  to  be  capable  of  maintaining 
an  enormous  population.  Through  olive  trees  and  rich  gardens  we 
approach  Ludd  (or  Lydda)  which  is  surrounded  with  fruitfulness  on  every 
side  except  the  east,  where  the  Judean  hills  rise  close  behind  it. 

Ludd  was  one  of  the  first  cities  built  by  the  Israelites  in  the  Promised 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


87 


Land  (1  Chron.  viii:i2).  It  was  then  called  Loci,  and  is  frequently  men, 
tioned  in  connection  with  Ono,  Hadid  and  Neb  all  at.  Ono,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  is  a  little  over  five  miles  north  of  Ludd.  Neballat  survives 
under  the  name  of  Beit  Nebala,  about  three  miles  northeast  of  Ludd;  and 
Hadid  about  two  and  a  half  miles  due  east,  under  the  name  of  El  Haditka. 
Hadid  furnishes  another  illustration  of  the  tenacity  with  which  names  cling 
to  places  in  the  East;  for  Hadid  was  undoubtedly  a  city  of  the  mysterious 
Hittite  Empire,  and  its  name  comes  from  that  of  the  children  of  Heth ,  who 
were  a  powerful  people  when  Abraham  was  a  wandering  stranger  in  the 
Land  of  Promise.  The  name  of  Lod  occurs  several  times  in  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament,  but  it  is  more  famous  in  New  Testament  history  as  the  Lydda  to 
which  St.  Peter  “came  down”  from  the  mountainous  region  of  Jerusalem 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visitation  of  the  churches.  Among  “the  saints  which 
were  at  Lydda”  he  found  a  paralytic  man  called  Eneas,  whom  he  healed 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  (Acts  ix  132-35);  and  it  was  while  he  was  at 
Lydda  that  the  disciples  in  Joppa  sent  for  him  to  comfort  them  in  their 
affliction  at  the  death  of  their  beloved  Dorcas.  “As  Lydda  was  nigh  to 
Joppa,”  they  thought  he  would  not  refuse  to  go  to  them.  The  apostle  did 
not  disappoint  them.  He  quickly  went  the  eleven  miles  which  lay  between 
the  two  cities  and  gave  the  mourners  an  undreamed-of  consolation  when 
he  presented  Dorcas  alive  to  the  “saints  and  widows”  to  whom  she  was  en¬ 
deared  by  her  charity  (Acts  ix:  36-42).  Twenty  years  afterward  another 
apostle,  St.  Paul,  may  have  passed  through  Lydda  when  he  was  sent  as  a 
“prisoner  of  the  Lord”  to  Caesarea  by  the  sea  (Acts  xxiii:  1 7 — 3  5)  >  and  only 
six  years  later,  while  the  people  of  Lydda  were  nearly  all  absent  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  celebrating  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  their  city  was  ruthlessly  burned 
to  ashes  by  Cestius  Gallus  (A.  D.  66).  For  a  long  time  Lydda  struggled 
for  existence  with  little  success,  but  it  seems  never  to  have  recovered  its 
former  prosperity  until  it  was  rebuilt,  perhaps  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor 
Hadrian,  under  the  new  name  of  Diospolis,  the  City  of  Jupiter.  I  nder 
that  heathen  name  it  flourished;  the  Christian  community  increased;  and  at 
the  great  Council  of  Nicsea  (A.D.  325)>  a  bishop  of  Lydda ,  /Etius  L\ dden- 
sis,  was  present.  In  the  fifth  century  a  famous  church  council  was  lu  Id 
in  Lydda  itself.  In  the  lists  of  councils  the  name  fluctuates  between 
Lydda  and  Diospolis,  but  eventually  the  ancient  name  resumed  the  place 


88 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


usurped  by  its  heathen  rival.  We  need  not  trace  the  later  history  of  Ludd 
through  the  era  of  the  Crusades  and  afterward.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  its 
vicissitudes  were  almost  as  numerous  and  as  tragic  as  those  of  Joppa. 

At  the  present  time,  enclosed  as  it  is  with  gardens  and  almost  buried 
in  palms,  and  with  a  large  well  close  to  its  chief  entrance,  Ludd  is  beauti¬ 
ful  from  a  distance;  but,  like 
Ramleh,  it  is  disappointing 
on  a  nearer  approach.  Its 
population  is  only  about 
1,500,  and  the  contrast  of  its 
present  squalor  with  the 
prosperity  it  has  often  be¬ 
fore  experienced  is  strikingly 
presented  to  the  eye  of  the 
spectator  by  the  remains  of 
splendid  buildings  in  the 
midst  of  miserable  hovels. 
The  aspect  of  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  is  painfully  displeasing, 
from  the  extraordinary  num¬ 
ber  of  persons  who  are  af¬ 
fected  with  loathsome  dis¬ 
eases  of  the  eye,  caused  by 
heaps  of  ashes,  which  have 
produced  the  same  maladies 
as  at  Ramleh.  It  is  a  com¬ 
mon  saying  that  at  Ludd  every  man  has  either  but  one  eye  or  none 
at  all. 

The  only  attraction  at  Ludd,  apart  from  its  historical  associations,  is 
the  Church  of  St.  George  of  Cappadocia,  the  patron  saint  of  England,  who 
is  revered  by  all  churches,  but  of  whom  hardly  anything  is  certainly 
known.  It  is  said  that  he  was  born  at  Lydda,  and  that,  after  his  martyr¬ 
dom  at  Nicomedia,  his  head  was  brought  to  his  native  place  and  deposited 
under  the  altar  of  the  church  which  bears  his  name.  The  edifice  has  been 
many  times  destroyed,  and  as  often  rebuilt.  It  is  now  in  possession  of  the 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


89 


Greeks,  and  under  the  altar  is  an  ancient  crypt  which  is  said  to  have  con¬ 
tained  the  tomb  of  St.  George.  The  eastern  part  of  the  building  is  used 
as  a  church ,  the  western  part  as  a  mosque,  and  the  Mohammedans  have  a 
curious  oral  tradition  of  a  prophecy  of  Mohammed,  that,  at  the  end  of  the 
world,  the  Lord  Isa  (Jesus)  is  to  slay  Antichrist  at  the  gate  of  Lydda. 
Evidently  this  is  a  Moslem  version  of  the  legend  of  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon. 


Leaving  Ludd  through  a  rich  meadow,  we  continue  our  way  through 
olive  groves  and  cactus  hedges  and  approach  the  ascent  of  the  Judean 
hills.  In  an  hour  we  come  to  the  village  of  Jimzu ,  the  Gimzo  of  the  Old 
Testament  (2  Chron.  xxviii:i8).  From  that  point  we  rise  by  a  rugged 
road,  with  aline  of  hills  on  either  side,  which  gradually  approach  each  other 
until  they  form  almost  a  ravine.  In  a  few  hours  we  come  to  the  village  of 
Beit  Ur  (el  tahta )  or  the  (Lower)  Beth-Horon ,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  famous 
pass  of  Beth-Horon,  the  scene  of  the  most  splendid  victory  recorded  in  the 
history  of  Israel.  From  the  Lower  Beth-Horon,  which  is  1,500  feet  above 
sea-level,  to  Beit  Ur  (cl ' f oka)  or  the  (Upper)  Beth-Horon  at  the  further  end 
of  the  pass,  the  road  is  certainly  steep,  since  it  rises  600  feet  in  three  miles, 
but  it  cannot  be  called  precipitous.  Still  less  is  it  a  ravine,  for  it  runs 
along  the  ridge  of  a  hogback  or  watershed  with  a  wady  (or  valley)  on  either 
hand.  On  leaving  the  Lower  Beit-Ur  there  is  first  a  slight  descent,  and 
then  a  rise  of  about  three  miles  to  Beit-Ur  the  Upper.  Even  in  Palestine, 
this  road  is  exceptionally  difficult.  In  places  it  has  steps  cut  in  the  rock> 
showing  that  at  a  former  time  it  was  artificially  improved;  but  most  of  it 
is  partly  over  sheets  of  rock,  smooth  and  flat  as  paving  stones,  partly  over 
the  upturned  edges  of  the  limestone  strata,  and  everywhere  the  road  is 
strewn  with  the  loose  rectangular  blocks  of  stone  which  are  characteristic 
of  the  country.  It  is  a  bad  road  at  best  for  the  ordinary  traveler;  for  an 
army  in  confusion  a  worse  road  could  hardly  be  imagined. 

From  the  Upper  Beit-Ur  we  perceive  a  deep  valley,  five  miles  wide,  and 
beyond  it,  still  to  the  southeast,  the  towering  height  of  El  Jib ,  the  re¬ 
nowned  fortress  of  Gibeon.  In  order  to  clearly  understand  Dean  Stanley  s 


eloquent  account  of  the  battle  of  Beth-Horon  it  will  be  necessary  to  re¬ 
member  that  an  army  fleeing  from  the  valley  before  Gibeon,  through  the 
pass  of  Beth-Horon,  would  have  first  to  climb  the  steep  slope  of  the  valley 


90 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM 


in  order  to  enter  the  pass  at  its  upper  end,  and  then  would  have  to  run 
down  the  pass  in  order  to  reach  its  exit  at  the  lower  end. 

One  other  feature  still  requires  to  be  described  in  order  to  complete¬ 
ness.  Between  the  modern  and  the  ancient  roads  from  Joppa  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  as  far  as  Amwas  on  the  former  and  Umm  Rush  on  the  other,  lies  a 


KULONIEH  AND  WADY  ES-SUMPT. 


valley  sloping  gradually  upward  toward  the  east,  and  somewhat  broken 
by  hills.  It  is  now  called  Meri  Ibn  Omar;  and  throughout  its  whole  extent 
only  one  small  village  preserves  the  famous  name  by  which  it  was  known 
in  the  days  of  Joshua.  The  village,  three  miles  northeast  of  Latrun,  is 
Yalo;  the  ancient  name  of  the  valley  was  Ajalon. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  recall  the  history  of  the  battle  of  Beth- 
Horon,  which  has  been  called,  without  exaggeration,  the  most  important 
battle  in  sacred  history.  The  Israelites  had  crossed  the  Jordan  and 
entered  the  Promised  Land.  Their  camp  had  been  pitched  at  Gilgal,  not 
far  from  the  Jordan,  and  there  the  headquarters  of  Joshua  were  kept  for  a 
considerable  time.  The  fall  of  Jericho,  quickly  followed  by  the  destruc- 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


9i 


tion  of  Ai,  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  Gibeon,  who  resolved 
to  obtain  a  league  with  the  invaders.  Their  messengers  presented  them¬ 
selves  before  Joshua  in  worn  garments  and  with  other  signs  of  travel  from 
a  distant  country,  and  pretending  that  their  land  was  far  off,  asked  the 
alliance  of  Joshua  and  Israel.  Without  making  inquiry,  Joshua  covenanted 
with  the  Gibeonites  that  their  lives  should  be  spared,  and  the  elders  of 
Israel  bound  themselves  by  an  oath  to  observe  the  treaty.  The  treaty 
having  been  made,  Joshua  was  chagrined  to  learn  that  these  new  allies 
occupied  no  distant  region,  but  had  their  abode  within  one  day’s  forced 
march  from  his  own  camp.  Notwithstanding  the  false  pretence  under 
which  his  alliance  had  been  obtained,  he  would  not  break  the  oath  by 
which  he  and  the  elders  of  Israel  had  bound  themselves;  but  he  decided 
that  the  treaty  must  be  construed  strictly  according  to  the  letter  of  its 
terms.  He  therefore  promised  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  Gibeonites,  and  to 
protect  them,  but  he  declared  that  they  should  be  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water  to  the  congregation  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  God 
forever. 

The  defection  of  the  Gibeonites  from  the  side  of  the  other  inhabitants 
of  the  land  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  enemies  of  Israel;  for  Gibeon  was  at 
the  head  of  a  league  which  included  not  only  their  own  city  and  its  terri¬ 
tory,  but  also  Kirjath-jearim,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken,  Beeroth,  of 
which  we  shall  hear  later  on  and  in  another  connection,  and  also  Chephira, 
the  modern  village  of  Kefir,  two  miles  west  of  Yalo.  Therefore  the  neigh¬ 
boring  kings,  having  heard  of  the  covenant  between  Israel  and  the  Gibeon¬ 
ites,  entered  into  a  confederacy  to  destroy  Gibeon.  Then  the  Gibeonites 
appealed  to  Joshua  to  come  to  their  assistance.  Here  we  may  begin  our 
extract  from  Dean  Stanley. 

“This  summons”  (he  says)  “was  as  urgent  as  words  can  describe.  It 
was  a  struggle  for  life  and  death  for  which  his  aid  was  demanded — not  only 
for  Gibeon,  but  for  the  Israelites.  They  had  hitherto  only  encountered 
the  outskirts  of  the  Canaanitish  tribes.  Now  they  were  to  meet  the  whole 
force  of  the  hills  of  southern  Palestine.  ‘The  King  of  Jerusalem,  the  King 
of  Hebron,  the  King  of  Jarmuth,  the  King  of  Lachish,  the  King  of  Eglon’ 
two  of  them  the  rulers  of  the  chief  cities  of  the  whole  country — ‘gathered 
themselves  together,  and  went  up,  they  and  all  their  hosts,  and  camped 


92 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


before  Gideon;  and  the  men  of  Gibeon  sent  unto  Joshua  to  the  camp  to 
Gilgal,  saying,  “Slack  not  thy  hand  from  thy  servants;  come  up  to  us 
quickly  and  save  us  and  help  us;  for  all  the  kings  of  the  Amorites,  that 
dwell  in  the  mountains,  are  gathered  together  against  us’”  (Josh.  ix:i-6). 

“Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  As  in  the  battle  of  Marathon,  every¬ 
thing  depended  on  the  suddenness  of  the  blow  which  should  break  in 
pieces  the  hostile  confederation.  On  the  former  occasion  of  Joshua’s  visit 
to  Gibeon,  it  had  been  a  three  day’s  journey  from  Gilgal,  as  according  to 
the  slow  pace  of  eastern  armies  and  caravans,  it  well  might  be.  But  now, 
by  a  forced  march,  ‘Joshua  came  unto  them  suddenly  and  went  up  from 

Gilgal  all  night.’  When  the  sun 


rose  behind  him,  he  was  already 
in  the  open  ground  at  the  foot 
of  the  heights  of  Gibeon,  where 
the  kings  were  encamped.  As 
often  before  and  after,  so  now, 
‘not  a  man  could  stand  before’ 
the  awe  and  the  panic  of  the  sud¬ 
den  sound  of  that  terrible  shout 
— the  sudden  appearance  of 
that  undaunted  host,  who  came 
with  the  assurance  not  ‘to  fear 
nor  to  be  dismayed — but  to  be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage, 
for  the  Lord  had  delivered  their 
enemies  into  their  hands’  (Josh, 
x:  8,  25).  They  fled  down  the 
western  pass,  and  ‘the  Lord 
discomfited  them  before  Israel, 


< 

Q 

Q 

>- 


and  slew  them  with  great  slaughter  at  Gibeon,  and  chased  them  along 
the  way  that  goeth  up  to  Beth-Horon’  (Josh,  x:  10).  This  was  the 
first  stage  of  the  flight — in  the  long  ascent  which  I  have  described, 
from  Gibeon  up  to  Beth-Horon  the  Upper.  ‘And  it  came  to  pass,  as 
they  fled  from  before  Israel,  and  were  in  the  going  down  of  Beth- 
Horon,  that  the  Lord  cast  great  stones  from  Heaven  upon  them  unto 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


93 


Azekah’  (Josh,  x:  1 1).  This  was  the  second  stage  of  the  flight.  The 
fugitives  had  outstripped  the  pursuers,  they  had  crossed  the  high  ridge  of 
Beth-Horon  the  Upper;  they  were  in  full  flight  down  the  descent  to  Beth- 
Horon  the  Nether;  when,  as  afterward  in  the  flight  of  Barak  against 
Sisera,  one  of  the  fearful  tempests,  which,  from  time  to  time,  sweep  over 
the  hills  of  Palestine,  burst  upon  the  disordered  army,  and  ‘there  were 
more  which  died  with  hailstones  than  they  whom  the  Children  of  Israel 
slew  with  the  sword”  (Josh,  x:  11). 

“It  is  at  this  point  that  ‘the  Book  of  Jasher’  presents  us  with  that 
sublime  picture,  which,  however  variously  it  always  has  been  and  per¬ 
haps  always  will  be  interpreted,  we  may  here  take  as  we  find  it  there 
expressed.  On  the  summit  of  the  pass — looking  far  down  the  deep 
descent  of  all  the  westward  valleys,  with  the  broad  green  vale  of  Ajalon 
unfolding  in  the  distance  into  the  open  plain,  with  the  yet  wider  expanse 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  beyond — stood  the  Israelite  chief.  Below  him 
was  rushing  down  in  wild  confusion  the  Amorite  host.  Around  him  were 
‘all  his  people  of  war  and  all  his  mighty  men  of  valor.’  Behind  him  were 
the  hills  which  hid  Gibeon — the  now  rescued  Gibeon— from  his  sight.  But 
the  sun  stood  high  above  those  hills — ‘in  the  midst  of  Heaven;’  for  the 
day  had  now  far  advanced  since  he  had  emerged  from  his  night  march 
through  the  passes  of  Ai,  and  in  front,  over  the  western  vale  of  Ajalon,  was 
the  faint  figure  of  the  crescent  moon,  visible  above  the  hailstorm,  which 
was  fast  driving  up  from  the  sea  in  the  valleys  below.  Was  the  enemy  to 
escape  in  safety,  or  was  the  speed  with  which  Joshua  had  ‘come  quickly 
and  saved  and  helped’  his  defenceless  allies,  to  be  still  rewarded  before 
the  close  of  that  day,  by  a  signal  and  decisive  victory  ? 

“Doubtless,  with  outstretched  hand  and  spear,  ‘the  hand  that  he  drew 
not  back,  when  he  stretched  out  the  spear,  until  he  had  utterly  destroyed 
the  inhabitants  of  Ai,’  “then  spake  Joshua  to  the  Lord  in  the  day  when 
the  Lord  delivered  the  Amorites  before  the  children  of  Israel,  and  he  said 
in  the  sight  of  Israel: 

“Sun,  stand  thou  still  upon  Gibeon. 

And  thou  Moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon." 

And  the  sun  stood  still  and  the  moon  stayed,  until  the  people  had  avenged  them¬ 
selves  upon  their  enemies.” 


94 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM 


“So  ended  the  second  stage  of  the  flight.  The  third  is  less  distinct, 
from  a  variation  in  the  text  of  the  narrative.  But  following  what  seems 
the  most  probable  reading,  the  pursuit  still  continued;  ‘and  the  Lord 
smote  them  to  Azekah  and  unto  Makkedah,  and  these  five  kings  fled  and 
hid  themselves  in  a  cave  at  Makkedah.’  But  Joshua  halted  not  when  he 
was  told;  the  same  speed  was  still  required,  the  victory  was  not  yet  won. 
‘Roll  great  stones,”  he  said,  ‘upon  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  set  men  by 
it  for  to  keep  them,  and  stay  ye  not,  but  pursue  after  your  enemies  and 
smite  the  hindmost  of  them;  suffer  them  not  to  enter  into  their  cities;  for 


CHURCH  OF  ST.  GEORGE,  LYDDA. 


the  Lord  hath  delivered  them  into  your  hands.’  We  know  not  precisely 
the  position  of  Makkedah,  but  it  must  have  been  probably  at  the  point 
where  the  mountains  sink  into  the  plain,  that  this  last  struggle  took  place; 
and  thither  at  last  to  the  camp  at  Makkedah  ‘all  the  people  of  Israel 
returned  in  peace;  none  moved  his  tongue  against  any  of  the  people  of 
Israel.’  There  was  enacted,  as  it  would  seem,  the  last  act  of  the  same 
eventful  day;  the  five  kings  were  brought  out  and  slain,  and  hanged  on  five 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


95 


trees  until  the  evening,  when  at  last  that  memorable  sun  went  down.  ‘It 
came  to  pass  at  the  time  of  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  that  Joshua  com¬ 
manded,  and  they  took  them  down  from  off  the  trees,  and  cast  them  into 
the  cave  wherein  they  had  been  hid,  and  laid  great  stones  in  the  cave’s 
mouth.  .  .  .  And  that  day  Joshua  took  Makkedah,  and  smote  it  with  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  and  the  king  thereof  he  utterly  destroyed,  them,  and  all  the 
souls  that  were  therein;  he  let  none  remain’  (Josh,  x:  22-28).  And  then  fol¬ 
lowed  the  rapid  succession  of  victory  and  extermination  which  swept  the 
whole  of  southern  Palestine  into  the  hands  of  Israel.  The  possession  of 
every  place,  sacred  for  them  and  for  all  future  ages,  from  the  Plain  of 
Esdraelon  to  the  southern  desert — Shechem,  Shiloh,  Gibeon,  Bethlehem, 
Hebron — was,  with  the  one  exception  of  Jerusalem,  involved  in  the  issue 
of  that  conflict.  ‘And  all  those  kings  and  their  land  did  Joshua  take  at  one 
time ,  because  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  fought  for  Israel.  And  Joshua 
returned,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  to  the  camp  to  Gilgal’  ”  (Josh,  x:  42,43). 

The  fame  of  Beth-Horon  does  not  end  with  this  marvelous  victory. 
It  was  at  this  same  pass  that  the  heroic  Judas  Maccabeus  gained  one  of 
his  first  successes,  against  the  Syrian  oppressors  under  whose  yoke  his 
country  had  fallen.  In  comparison  with  the  triumph  of  Joshua  it  was  a 
small  affair,  but  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  wonderful  career  and  a  great 
deliverance.  In  this  case  the  advancing  enemy,  while  on  the  march  to 
attack  Judas,  was  caught  between  the  two  Beth-Horons.  Even  so,  the 
handful  of  men  with  Judas  hesitated  to  attack  so  formidable  an  army;  but 
Judas  bade  them  remember  that  “the  victory  of  battle  standeth  not  in  the 
multitude  of  an  host.”  Inspired  by  his  address  they  rushed  down  upon 
the  Syrians  and  drove  them  back  in  wild  disorder.  From  the  “going  down 
of  Beth-Horon”  to  the  plain  they  pursued  their  routed  enemy,  slaying 
eight  hundred  of  them,  “and  the  residue  fled  into  the  land  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines”  (1  Macc.  iii;  13-24). 

Like  a  spark  from  an  expiring  brand,  a  third  Jewish  victory  at  Beth- 
Horon  preceded  the  extinction  of  the  national  existence  of  Israel.  When 
the  Roman  general  Cestius  had  finished  the  cowardly  destruction  of 
Lydda,  already  mentioned,  he,  too,  marched  against  Jerusalem,  through 
the  pass  of  Beth-Horon,  and  encamped  before  Gibeon.  Seized  with 
ungovernable  fury,  the  Jews  forgot  even  the  sanctity  of  their  Sabbath  and 


96 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


hastened  to  meet  their  invader.  Bursting  upon  the  Roman  camp  they 
made  their  way  clean  through  it,  and  the  Romans  fled  down  the  pass, 
while  their  cavalry  defended  the  rear.  Once  in  the  pass  the  cavalry  was 
at  fearful  disadvantage,  and  the  Roman  loss  was  heavy;  but  night  came 
on,  and  there  was  no  Joshua  at  hand  to  obtain  a  lengthening  of  the  day. 
The  main  body  of  the  enemy  escaped;  and  the  insane  divisions  of  the 
Jews  soon  made  their  victory,  such  as  it  was,  of  no  effect. 

Five  miles  beyond  Beit-Ur,  as  we  have  said,  is  El  Jib ,  beyond  all 

doubt  whatever  the  ancient  Gibeon.  The 
plain  in  which  it  stands  is  all  seamed  with 
streamlets,  or  at  least  with  water  courses, 
which  ultimately  drain  into  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  Sea,  and  not  eastward  to  the  Jor¬ 
dan.  The  ancient  fortress  has  disappeared ; 
o  the  city  has  shrunk  to  a  poor  village.  In 
§  a  cave  hollowed  out  under  a  cliff  is  a 

i 

h  copious  spring  which  fills  one  deep  reser- 
M  voir  on  the  spot  and  another  below  the  vil- 

asi 

^  lage.  This  lower  reservoir  is  undoubtedly 
2  the  “poof  of  Gibeon”  beside  whose  waters 
p  a  bloody  conflict  once  took  place.  It  was 
after  the  death  of  Saul  and  David’s  corona¬ 
tion  at  Hebron.  Abner  had  proclaimed 
Saul’s  son  Ish-bosheth  king,  and,  as  it 
seems,  he  made  some  appointment  with 
Joab,  the  follower  of  David,  to  meet  at  the 
pool  of  Gibeon.  The  two  parties  “sat 
down,  the  one  on  the  one  side  of  the  pool,  and  the  other  on  the  other  side;” 
and  after  what  conference  we  know  not,  twelve  men  of  either  party  rose 
and  fought  a  mortal  duel  in  which  all  the  champions  were  slain.  A  fierce 
battle  ensued,  ending  in  a  victory  for  Joab.  In  honor  of  that  days’  battle 
“the  place  was  called  Helkath-hazzurim  (the  field  of  the  Mighty)  which  is 
in  Gibeon”  (2  Sam.  ii:  12-18).  Not  far  from  that  same  spot  Joab  afterward 
committed  his  cowardly  assassination  of  Amasa,  whom  David  had  sent 
forth  to  quell  the  revolt  of  Sheba  (2  Sam.  xx;  1  - 1 3).  Soon  after  that  cow- 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


97 


I 


ardly  murder  the  tabernacle  of  God  was  removed  either  from  Kirjath- 
jearim  or  from  Nob,  (i  Chron,  xvi:  39), to  a  “high  place”  near  by  Gibeon,  and 
on  the  death  of  David,  who  had  never  forgiven  the  crimes  of  Joab,  that 
doomed  old  man,  knowing  that  the  hour  of  vengeance  had  come,  fled  to 
the  tabernacle  and  was  put  to  death  while  he  held  the  very  horns  of  the 
altar  (1  Kings  ii;  28,  29).  j 

The  reign  of  Solomon  was  inaugurated  with  a  magnificent  religious 
celebration  at  the  tabernacle  near  Gibeon.  It  was  a  fit  spot  for  such  a  ser¬ 
vice.  If  we  may  suppose  the  “high  place”  to  have  been  the  hill-top 
within  a  mile  of  the  fortress  of  Gibeon,  and  now  known  as  Ncby  Samwil , 
in  honor  of  the  Prophet  Samuel,  then  no  such  spot  in  all  his  kingdom  could  I 

have  been  found  for  the  purposes  of  that  act  of  devotion  in  behalf  of  him-  ^ 

self  and  his  kingdom.  It  is  3,006  feet  above  sea-level,  and  towers  above 
all  other  hills  in  its  vicinity.  From  the  top  of  a  Moslem  minaret,  which  ( 

now  stands  on  its  summit,  is  the  most  extensive  view  in  Western  Palestine. 

“At  our  feet,”  says  Dr.  Tristram,  “are  deep,  rugged  valleys,  partially  cov¬ 
ered  with  scrub,  and  olive  groves  contrasting  with  the  white  limestone 
ridges.  Beyond  are  Beeroth  and  Ophrah,  the  rock  Rimmon,  and  Ramah 
of  Benjamin.  Over  the  nearer  ridges  we  look  far  away,  beyond  the  Jordan 
Valley,  which  lies  far  too  deep  to  be  seen,  on  to  the  dark  outlines  of  the 
ranges  of  Gilead  and  Moab.  With  the  glass  we  can  detect  the  fortress  of 
Kerak,  Jebel  Shihan  (Sihon),  the  highest  point  in  Moab,  and  the  distant 
mountains  of  Jebel.  Turning  to  the  south,  over  the  bare  foreground  of 
grey  hills  we  see  the  mosques  and  domes  of  Jerusalem  apparently  sunk  in 
a  valley.  Northward  we  detect  Mount  Gerizim  and  the  shoulder  of  Car¬ 
mel;  to  the  westward  push  forth  from  beneath  the  wide  Plains  of  Sharon 
and  Philistia,  sometimes  green  with  corn,  sometimes  bare  and  red  fallow, 
and  dark  patches  which  tell  of  olive-groves,  while  white  spots  gleam  in  the 
sunshine — the  roofs  of  Lydda,  of  Ramleh,  or  some  other  olive  and  orange 
girt  village.  Beyond  these  a  ribbon  of  yellow  sand  marks  the  line  between 
the  green  plain  and  the  blue  sea.  That  white  green-encircled  knoll  at  the 
edge  of  the  sand  is  Jaffa,  and  the  sail  of  a  lateen-rigged  vessel  here  and 
there  dots  the  sea.  If  this  be  not  Mizpeh,  i.  e.,  the  ‘watch-tower  of  Ben¬ 
jamin,  I  know  not  where  else  we  can  find  it,  although  the  name  be  lost 
under  a  mediaeval  tradition,  and  that  again  supplanted  by  a  Moslem  one.” 


98 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


At  the  tabernacle,  which  stood  on  this  magnificent  platform,  with  the 
heavens  for  its  appropriate  dome,  Solomon  offered  his  oblation  of  a  thou¬ 
sand  burnt  offerings  and  sought  counsel  from  God  concerning  the  work 
before  him.  The  youthful  prince  was  richly  blessed.  “In  Gibeon  God  ap¬ 
peared  to  Solomon  in  a  dream  by  night,  and  God  said,  Ask  what  I  shall  give 
thee.”  Awed  perhaps  by  the  spectacle  on  which  he  had  gazed,  the  king 
was  moved  with  humility.  He  asked  only  for  “an  understanding  heart  to 
judge  the  people;”  and  God  gave  him  what  he  asked  and  many  rich  bless¬ 
ings  which  he  had  not  asked  (i  Kings,  iii:  i  — 1 5).  “This  glimpse  of  Gibeon 
in  all  the  splendor  of  its  greatest  prosperity — the  smoke  of  the  thousand 
animals  rising  from  the  venerable  altar  on  the  commanding  height  of  ‘the 
great  high  place’ — the  clang  of  ‘trumpets  and  cymbals  and  musical  instru¬ 
ments  of  God’  (1  Chron.  XVK42)  resounding  through  the  valleys  far  and 
near — is  virtually  the  last  we  hear  of  it.  In  a  few  years  the  temple  of  God 
at  Jerusalem  was  completed,  and  the  tabernacle  was  taken  down  and  re¬ 
moved.” 

That  is  indeed  “the  last  we  hear”  of  Gibeon,  unless  Gibeon  is  to  be 
understood  to  include  the  adjacent  height  of  Neby  Samwil.  If  that  is 
understood,  and  if  Neby  Samwil  can  also  be  identified  with  the  ancient 
Mizpeh,  then  we  have  more  to  hear  of  it.  On  the  former  point  we  need 
only  say  that  no  other  place  in  the  vicinity  of  Gibeon  can  be  so  properly 
called  its  “great  high  place”  as  the  crest  of  Neby  Samwil;  and  on  the  latter 
point,  without  entering  into  one  of  the  most  difficult  questions  in  biblical 
geography,  we  may  be  content  to  know  that  Dr.  Robinson  and  Van  de 
Velde  are  satisfied  that  Neby  Samwil  is  Mizpeh.  Dr.  Tristram,  as  we 
have  above  seen,  says,  “if  this  be  not  Mizpeh,  I  know  not  where  else  we 
can  find  it.” 

During  the  twenty  years  that  “the  ark  of  God  abode  at  Kirjath-jearim, 
the  Israelites  forsook  the  idolatries  into  which  they  had  fallen,”  and  at  the 
invitation  of  Samuel,  the  prophet,  they  assembled  at  Mizpeh  to  renew  their 
homage  to  the  Lord.  Samuel  did  not  hesitate  to  promise  that  if  they  did 
so  sincerely  they  should  be  delivered  out  of  the  hands  of  their  enemies. 
While  they  were  engaged  in  their  solemn  devotions,  the  lords  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines  came  against  them  with  their  army,  but,  as  in  the  first  battle  of  Beth- 
Horon,  a  sudden  storm  of  hail  burst  upon  them  and  beat  them  back;  the  Is- 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


99 


raelites  took  courage  and  fell  upon  their  enemies  and  routed  them.  Then  it 
was  that  Samuel  raised  a  stone  of  victory  and  called  it  Eben-ezer ,  the  Stone 
of  Help,  saying,  “Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us !”  (i  Sam.  vii;  i-i  2). 

It  was  at  Mizpeh  again  that  all  Israel  assembled  to  choose  a  king,  and 
there  that  the  gallant  but  unhappy  Saul,  who  “was  higher  than  any  of  the 


AJALON,  LOOKING  TOWARD  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 


people  from  the  shoulders  upward,”  was  hailed  as  the  leader  of  his  people, 
and  the  heights  of  Mizpeh  rang  again  and  again  with  the  new  cry,  “God 
save  the  king!”  Then  the  aged  Samuel  laid  aside  his  duties  as  the  judge 
of  Israel,  going  no  more  on  his  judicial  circuit  to  Bethel,  Gilgal  and  Miz¬ 
peh  (1  Sam.  vii :  16). 

Except  that  the  men  of  Mizpeh  faithfully  did  their  part  in  the  rebuild¬ 
ing  of  Jerusalem  after  the  captivity  (Neh.  iii :  7),  and  that  Judas  Maccabeus 
encamped  there  on  the  eve  of  his  rescue  of  the  Holy  City  from  the  Syrians, 
we  have  no  further  notice  of  Mizpeh  by  that  name;  but  it  was  a  place  be¬ 
loved  long  ages  afterward  by  the  crusaders,  who  called  it  Mount  Joy, 
because  there  they  first  came  in  sight  of  Jerusalem.  There  it  was  that 
the  English  Richard  of  the  Lion  Heart  had  his  only  sight  of  the  Sacred 
City.  His  troops  were  encamped  in  the  Valley  of  Ajalon.  A  well  near 
Yalo  is  still  called  Bir-el-Khebir ,  the  Hero’s  Well.  Richard  alone  went 


100  FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

up  to  Mount  Joy,  but  standing  with  his  face  toward  Jerusalem,  he  hid  his 
eyes  behind  his  shield  and  cried,  “Ah,  Lord  God,  I  pray  that  I  may  never 
see  thy  Holy  City,  if  so  be  that  I  may  not  rescue  it  from  the  hands  of 
thine  enemies!” 

Tradition  makes  Neby  Samwil  the  birth-place,  the  home  and  the 
place  of  burial  of  the  Prophet  Samuel.  The  crusaders  held  it  to  be  the 


CAPTURE  OF  THE  FIVE  KINGS  AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  BETH-HORON.  (JOSH.  X:  16-27.) 

ancient  Shiloh  and  built  a  church  there  over  “Samuel’s  Tomb.”  The  vil¬ 
lage  is  poor.  Its  few  inhabited  dwellings  are  partly  hewn  in  the  rock,  but 
there  are  remains  of  ancient  buildings  of  great  solidity. 

From  Neby  Samwil  we  descend  by  the  ancient  Roman  road,  and 
strike  the  road  from  Kulonieh,  on  the  west  side  of  Jerusalem.  As  our 
present  destination  is  not  Jerusalem,  but  Bethlehem,  we  continue  our  jour¬ 
ney  southward  through  the  Valley  of  Gibeon.  Leaving  the  city  behind,  our 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


IOI 


course  turns  slightly  to  the  west  and  leads  us  into  the  Valley  of  Rephaim , 
which  the  authorized  version  renders  as  the  Valley  of  Giants  (Josh.  xv:8; 
xviii:  16).  There  (2  Sam.  v:  18-22;  xxiii:  13),  David  won  two  victories 
against  the  Philistines,  of  so  signal  a  character  as  to  cause  the  name  of  the 
valley  to  be  changed  to  that  of  Perazim  (Divisions).  This  name  clung  to 
it  and  was  so  proverbial  as  a  symbol  of  utter  rout  that  the  prophet  Isaiah 
uses  it  to  describe  the  desolation  and  destruction  of  the  whole  earth: 

“Jehovah  shall  rise  up  as  at  Mount  Perazim, 

He  shall  be  wroth  as  in  the  Valley  of  Gibeon.”  (Isa.  xxviii:2i). 

The  plain  is  now  tolerably  cultivated.  It  sinks  somewhat  to  the  west 
toward  the  Wady-el  Werd,  or  the  Valley  of  Roses;  and  as  we  proceed,  we 
pass  some  spots  which  tradition  connects  with  sacred  incidents  and  Script¬ 
ure  characters,  such  as  a  ruin  on  the  right,  called  Katamon ,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  the  house  of  Simeon  (Luke  ii :  2 5),  and  the  well  of  the  Wise 
Men,  where  the  Magi  are  said  to  have  caught  sight  of  the  Star  again  after 
leaving  Herod.  At  the  end  of  the  plain  we  pass  the  residence  of  the  Greek 
Patriarch  and  ascend  a  hill,  on  the  summit  of  which,  three  miles  from  Jeru¬ 
salem,  is  Deir  Mar  Elyas,  or  the  Convent  of  St.  Elijah.  It  was  founded  in 
early  Christian  times  by  a  bishop  of  the  name  of  Elias,  and  tradition  soon 
connected  the  place  with  the  prophet  Elijah.  The  mark  of  the  prophet’s 
foot  is  still  shown  in  the  rock!  On  the  path  from  the  main  road  to  the 
monastery  there  is  a  well  from  which  the  Holy  Family  is  said  to  have 
drank. 

Little  more  than  a  mile  beyond  Deir  Mar  Elyas,  while  we  are  still 
something  less  than  a  mile  from  Bethlehem,  we  come  to  a  monument  of 
undoubted  antiquity.  It  is  Rachel’s  Tomb. 

Bethlehem  is  so  ancient  a  city  that  no  record  of  its  origin  survives. 
It  was  a  city  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs;  it  was  not  far  from  Bethlehem, 
on  the  way  to  Jerusalem,  that  Jacob  buried  the  wife  of  his  first  choice,  the 
beautiful  Rachel.  “Rachel  died,”  we  are  told  in  the  simple  language  of 
Scripture,  “and  was  buried  in  the  way  to  Ephrath,  which  is  Bethlehem. 
And  Jacob  set  a  pillar  upon  her  grave;  that  is  a  pillar  of  Rachel’s  grave 
unto  this  day”  (Gen.  xxxv:  19,  20).  From  this  passage  we  may  infer  that 
the  original  Canaanitish  name  of  Bethlehem  was  Ephrath  (or  Ephratah ), 
and  that  the  name  of  Bethlehem,  the  House  of  Bread,  was  still  of  recent 


102 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


date  in  the  time  of  Jacob.  The  present  name, Beit  Lahm,  signifies  House 
of  Flesh.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  pillar  or  monument  of  stones 
which  Jacob  raised  in  honor  of  Rachel  would  remain  unmoved  forever,  but 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  veneration  of  the  Jews  for  so 
ancient  a  monument  of  their  race  would  cause  them,  from  time  to  time,  to 
renew  or  replace  it  when  it  fell  into  decay.  As  the  centuries  went  on,  and 
the  associations  of  race  became  traditions  of  religion,  the  tomb  of  Rachel 
would  be  more  and  more  visited  and  venerated;  and  the  strength  of 
national  and  religious  sentiment  would  be  too  great  ever  to  allow  its  site 
to  be  forgiven.  Traditions  of  place  are  preserved  at  the  East  with  great 
care,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  what  is  now  known  as  Rachel’s  Tomb 
is  either  at  or  very  near  the  spot  on  which  Jacob  reared  his  pillar  of  com¬ 
memoration.  Throughout  the  Christian  era  there  has  been  no  difference 
in  the  tradition  of  Jews,  Christians  and  Mahommedans,  by  all  of  whom 

Rachel’s  tomb  is  sacredly  revered. 
The  present  building,  of  course,  is  not 
the  tower  or  mound  of  stones  with 
which  Jacob  marked  the  spot.  It 
cannot  date  further  back  than  the 
twelfth  century.  It  is  a  square  build¬ 
ing  of  rough  stones,  the  walls  of  which 
are  about  twenty-three  feet  in  length, 
and  about  twenty  feet  high,  with  a 
dome  at  one  end,  which  rises  above  the  flat  roof  of  the  rest  of  the  edifice. 
Originally  there  seem  to  have  been  arches  in  each  wall.  All  over  the  walls 
are  seen  the  names  of  pilgrims  who  have  wished  to  leave  a  record  of  their 
visit  to  the  spot. 

There  is  but  one  difficulty  connected  with  the  place  of  Rachel’s 
Tomb,  namely,  that  it  is  said  (i  Sam.  x:  2),  to  have  been  in  “the  border  of 
Benjamin,”  which  would  require  it  to  be  at  some  distance  to  the  north  of 
Jerusalem,  instead  of  nearly  five  miles  to  the  south.  On  the  other  hand 
Jacob  says,  “when  I  came  from  Padan,  Rachel  died  by  me  in  the  land  of 
Canaan  in  the  way,  when  there  was  but  a  little  way  to  come  unto  Ephrath; 
and  I  buried  her  in  the  way  of  Ephrath;  the  same  is  Bethlehem” 
(Gen.  xlviii:  7).  Dr.  Thomson  explains  the  apparent  discrepancy  as  fol- 


BETH  HORON. 


FROM  JOPPA  TO  BETHLEHEM. 


103 


I 


lows:  “It  seems  to  me  that  instead  of  running  northward,  and  thereby 
throwing  a  large  part  of  the  site  of  Jerusalem  into  the  tribe  of  Judah 
instead  of  Benjamin,  the  boundary  line  appears  to  have  made  a  deep 
bend  southward,  so  as  to  include  Rachel’s  Tomb,  which  Samuel  says  was 
‘in  the  border  of  Benjamin.’  The  border,  it  is  true,  must  have  returned 
sharply  from  the  tomb  to  the  northwest,  forming  a  kind  of  loop  made  for 
the  special  purpose  of  including  the  sepulcher  within  the  tribe  of  Benja¬ 
min.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  motive  which 
led  to  this  unique  curve  in  the  boundary.  The  Benjaminites  would 
naturally  desire  to  possess  the  spot  where  the  father  of  their  tribe  was 
born,  as  the  soul  of  his  mother  was  departing,  and  whose  solitary  sepul¬ 
cher  commemorates  the  affecting  incidents  of  that  sad  calamity.” 

It  is  touching  to  remember  that,  though  Jacob  piously  did  honor  to 
the  wife  for  whom  he  had  waited  fourteen  years,  he  was  not  buried  by  her 
side.  In  the  near  prospect  of  death  his  heart  turned  tenderly  to  the  blear- 
eyed  Leah  (Gen.  xxix:  17),  whom  he  had  not  desired  for  his  wife,  and  to 
whom  he  had  perhaps  not  shown  too  much  love  in  the  early  years  of  their 
marriage.  When  the  time  came  for  the  aged  patriarch  to  be  gathered  to 
his  fathers,  it  was  not  by  the  side  of  Rachel  that  he  chose  to  be  laid.  His 
charge  to  his  sons  was  solemn  and  affecting.  “Bury  me,”  he  said,  “with 
my  fathers  in  the  cave  that  is  in  the  field  of  Machpelah,  which  is  before 
Mamre  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  Abraham  bought  with  the  field,  of 
Ephron,  the  Hittite,  for  a  possession  of  a  burying-place.  There  they 
buried  Abraham  and  Sarah  his  wife;  there  they  buried  Isaac  and  Rebekah 
his  wife;  and  there  I  buried  Leah”  (Gen.  xlix:  29-31).  Even  in  those  days 
of  polygamy  something  in  human  nature  testified  to  the  true  nature  of 
marriage,  which  is  the  exclusive  union  of  one  man  with  one  woman 
“according  to  God’s  holy  ordinance”  at  the  creation;  and  though  Jacob 
had  had  Rachel  to  wife  as  well  as  Leah,  yet  at  the  last  his  heart  turned  to 
the  wife  of  his  youth. 


t 

\ 

\ 

I 

\ 

\ 


\ 


CHAPTER  III. 


BETHLEHEM. 


Bethlehem — Antiquity — History — Jonathan,  the  Levite — The  Idyl  of  Ruth  and  Naomi— Description  of 
Bethlehem — A  Graceful  Legend — Boaz — Obed — Jesse — David — The  Habitation  of  Chimham — 
Joab — Abishai — Asahel — Twenty-third  Psalm — The  Well  of  Bethlehem — Fortified  by  Rehoboam 
— Captivity — The  Nativity — Migdal  Eder — Journey  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  Joseph  from  Naz¬ 
areth — Their  Genealogy — Their  Poverty — The  Inn — Cave  of  the  Nativity — Cave  of  St.  Jerome — 
Legends  of  the  Nativity — The  Circumcision — The  Holy  Name — The  Purification — Simeon  and 
Anna— Nunc  Dimittis— The  Epiphany — Herod  the  Idumean — His  Cruelties — The  Wise  Men— 
Traditions  Concerning  Them — Their  Gifts — The  Star  in  the  East — Astrology- -Kepler’s  Investi¬ 
gation — Slaughter  of  the  Innocents — Rachel  Weeping — Modern  Bethlehem — Population — 
Industries — Costumes — Church  of  St.  Mary — Cave  and  Shrine  of  the  Nativity, 


ANY  place  on  earth  ought  to  be 
sacred  to  the  hearts  of  all  men, 
place  is  Bethlehem.  From  that 
little  town  of  Judah  has  gone  forth 
a  power  which  has  affected  the 
whole  course  of  the  world's 
history,  and  which  is  destined 
to  affect  the  course  and  his¬ 
tory  of  all  worlds  in  the  uni¬ 
verse,  so  long  as  time  endures. 
It  was  in  that  little  town  that 
“the  Power  of  God  and  the 
Wisdom  of  God”  assumed  the 
veil  of  our  humanity.  It  was 
Syrian  carpenter  making  a"  plough.  in  Bethlehem  that  He  was 

born  Whom  prophets  had  foretold,  and  at  whose  coming  choirs  of  angels 
sang  aloud  for  joy,  Jesus,  the  Christ,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Saviour  of 
mankind. 

Bethlehem,  as  we  have  before  said,  is  a  city  so  ancient  that  history 
contains  no  record  of  its  origin.  Of  its  history  before  and  during  the 
patriarchal  period,  we  know  nothing.  After  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  it  is 


104 


THE  GATE  OF  BETHLEHEM. 


■ 


' 


■ 


1  * 


BETHLEHEM. 


107 


first  mentioned  in  connection  with  a  sad  story  of  human  weakness  and  its 
consequences. 

Bethlehem  was  not  a  city  of  the  priests,  but  it  is  certain  that,  after 
the  conquest,  some  priests,  or  at  least,  Levites,  made  their  home  there. 
The  northern  tribes,  though  always  more  prone  to  idolatrous  rites  than 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  cherished  a  high  regard  for  the  priestly  tribe  of 
Levi.  So  it  came  to  pass,  in  the  days  when  there  was  no  king  in  Israel, 
and  when  every  man  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  that  a  man 
named  Micah  eagerly  secured  the  services  of  a  Levite  of  Bethlehem,  to 
serve  as  a  priest  in  his  house  and  conduct  his  idolatrous  worship  (Judges 
xvii).  Thus,  Jonathan,  a  Levite  of  Bethlehem,  became  the  priest  of  the 
tribe  of  Dan,  and  his  descendants  after  him  retained  the  same  office  until 
the  kingdom  of  Israel  was  destroyed,  and  the  people  were  carried  into  cap¬ 
tivity  (Judges  xviii:  30).  But  for  that  sin  of  Jonathan,  the  Levite,  the 
idolatry  of  Dan  might  not  have  become  fixed  and  inveterate;  and  perhaps 
the  ruin  of  a  kingdom  might  have  been  averted.  The  seeds  of  evil,  once 
sown,  are  apt  to  bring  forth  evil  harvests  after  many  days. 

The  next  notice  of  Bethlehem  that  we  find  in  Holy  Scripture  is  in  the 
beautiful  idyl  of  the  Book  of  Ruth.  In  the  age  to  which  that  lovely  story 
belongs,  Bethlehem  was  much  the  same  as  it  is  now.  Things  change 
slowly  in  eastern  lands ;  cities  hardly  change  at  all ;  and  besides,  the  physical 
situation  of  Bethlehem  would  make  any  great  change  impossible.  Then, 
as  now,  it  was  situated  on  a  sort  of  triangular  wedge  of  high  rock,  opening 
from  the  highlands  of  the  west  to  the  plains  toward  the  east,  and  consist¬ 
ing  of  two  continuous  hills,  of  which  the  western  is  the  higher.  On  the 
north  and  south  the  sides  of  the  hills  are  exceedingly  steep,  but  the  lower 
hill  slopes  eastward  to  the  plain.  Then,  as  now,  the  sides  of  the  hills  were 
terraced,  so  as  to  give  place  for  orchards  of  olive  trees  and  other  fruits; 
and  hanging  gardens,  as  they  might  be  called,  yielded  a  rich  increase  to 
laborious  cultivation.  In  the  plains  beneath,  and  especially  to  the  east¬ 
ward,  were  fields  of  grain  and  rich  pasturage  for  flocks.  From  the  town 
on  the  summit  of  the  hills  could  be  seen  the  valley  which  declines  toward 
the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  beyond  the  sea  rose  the  gloomy  hills  of 
Moab,  purple  in  the  distance.  In  a  fearful  time  there  came  a  famine  over 
all  that  portion  of  the  land;  the  orchards  cast  their  fruit;  the  fields  yielded 


BETHLEHEM  FROM  THE  EAST. 

behind  them  unprovided  for  and  unprotected.  Naomi  heard  that  the 
Lord  had  visited  his  people  in  giving  them  bread,  and  she  resolved  to  go 
back  to  her  native  home.  She  did  not  ask  nor  expect  her  sons’  wives  to 
go  with  her.  She  hoped  that  they  might  find  in  Moab  other  husbands, 
and  a  future  happier  than  the  past  had  been.  But  the  two  young  women 


10S  BETHLEHEM. 

a  scanty  harvest;  the  poor  suffered  for  bread;  and  Elimelech,  with  his  wife 
Naomi,  was  driven  by  want  to  leave  his  native  home  in  Bethlehem,  and  to 
seek  a  livelihood  beyond  the  Salt  Sea  in  the  land  of  Moab.  There  they 
dwelt  until  the  sons  of  Elimelech  had  grown  up  and  had  married  maidens 
of  Moab;  and  then  the  father  and  his  two  sons  died,  leaving  three  widows 


BETHLEHEM. 


109 


chose  rather  to  go  with  her.  Naomi  must  have  been  a  good  mother  to 
have  won  such  love  from  her  sons’  wives.  But  as  they  went — three  widows 
on  foot,  and  with  small  possessions  among  the  three — Orpah  was  per¬ 
suaded  to  return.  She  kissed  Naomi  and  went  back,  while  Ruth  refused 
her  mother’s  urgent  entreaty  in  words  which  art  has  wedded  to  the  strains 
of  an  immortal  melody.  She  said:  “Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  nor  to 
return  from  following  after  thee;  for  whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go;  and 
where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy 
God,  my  God.  Where  thou  diest,  will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried; 
the  Lord  do  so  to  me  and  more  also,  if  aught  but  death  part  thee  and  me.” 
There  was  nothing  more  to  say  between  those  two,  for  Ruth’s  purpose  was 
as  immovable  as  a  fixed  star,  and  “when  Naomi  saw  that  she  was  stead¬ 
fastly  minded  to  go  with  her,  then  she  left  speaking  unto  her;”  and  so 
they  came,  God  guiding  them,  to  Bethlehem,  the  house  of  Bread.  They 
were  still  in  straits  for  the  means  of  living.  The  inheritance  of  Elimelech 
and  his  sons  had  fallen  to  a  distant  kinsman;  and  by  the  law  of  Moses  and 
the  custom  of  the  time  it  was  his  duty  to  take  Ruth  to  wife.  Naomi  sup¬ 
posed  the  wealthy  Boaz  to  be  her  next  kinsman,  and  sent  Ruth  gleaning 
in  his  fields,  doubtless  to  the  eastward  of  the  Bethlehem  hills.  Boaz  bade 
his  reapers  treat  the  stranger  maiden  kindly,  and  told  them  to  allow  her  to 
glean  after  them  among  the  sheaves,  and  even  to  let  handfuls  fall  for  her 
to  gather.  Ruth  herself  he  told  to  abide  with  his  maidens,  and  at  their 
modest  meals  he  gave  her  of  the  parched  corn  and  vinegar  which  was 
served  out  for  the  rest.  At  last  the  harvest  home  was  followed  by  the 
winnowing  of  the  grain  in  the  threshing  floor,  and  by  Naomi’s  counsel 
Ruth’s  claim  was  made  known,  in  a  truly  oriental  fashion,  to  her  kinsman 
Boaz.  But  he  was  not  her  nearest  kinsman,  as  she  had  supposed,  and 
could  not  be  her  husband  unless  the  nearer  kinsman  would  renounce  his 
right;  so  he  met  the  nearest  kinsman  at  the  gate  of  Bethlehem,  the  matter 
was  publicly  arranged  with  the  consent  of  all  parties,  and  Ruth,  the  Rose 
of  Moab  (for  Ruth  is  near  akin  to  our  English  word  Rose),  became  the  wife 
of  the  good-hearted  but  rather  elderly  man  who  had  been  kind  to  her  in 
her  poverty.  Children  blessed  their  union.  It  was  not  long  before  the 
women  of  Bethlehem  said,  “There  is  a  child  born  to  Naomi;”  “and  they 
called  his  name  Obed;  he  is  the  father  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David,” 


1 10 


BETHLEHEM 


Thus  the  Moabitish  maiden  became  the  mother  of  many  kings,  and  what 
is  more  than  that,  an  ancestress  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords. 


Perhaps  this  graceful  legend  of  Bethlehem  may  be  associated  with  the 
name  of  Ruth:  A  fair  maiden  was  blamed  with  wrong,  for  which  cause 
she  was  condemned  to  be  burned;  and  as  the  fire  began  to  burn  about  her 


RUTH  I — “0RPAH  KISSED  HER  MOTHER-IN-LAW,  BUT  RUTH  CLAVE  UNTO  HER.” 


she  made  her  prayer  to  our  Lord,  that,  as  truly  as  she  was  not  guilty,  He 
would  by  His  merciful  grace  help  her  and  make  it  known  to  all  men.  And 
when  she  had  thus  said,  she  entered  into  the  fire;  and  immediately  the  fire 
was  extinguished;  and  the  fagots  that  were  burning  became  red  rose 
bushes,  and  those  that  were  not  kindled  became  white  rose  bushes,  full  of 
roses.  And  these  were  the  first  rose  trees  and  roses,  white  or  red,  that 


ever  man  saw 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  CHURCH  AT 


BETHLEHEM. 


i  >3 

It  is  altogether  likely  that  Ruth  may  have  held  Jesse  the  father  of 
David,  in  her  arms,  as  Naomi  held  his  grandfather  Obed;  and  if  Boaz  had 
no  other  children,  then  the  father  of  David  would  inherit  some  considerable 
portion  of  the  fields  of  Boaz  in  which  Ruth  went  gleaning  among  the 
reapers.  But  if  we  are  to  believe  the  Talmud  story  that  Ibzan,  the  Beth- 
lehemite,  who  judged  Israel  for  seven  years  after  Jephthah,  and  who  had 
thirty  sons  and  thirty  daughters  (Judges  xii),  was  none  other  than  Boaz,  the 
husband  of  Ruth,  the  portion  of  Jesse  could  not  be  a  large  one.  Jesse  ap¬ 
pears,  however,  to  have  been  a  man  of  some  substance,  or  he  would  hardly 
have  been  numbered  among  the  elders  of  Bethlehem  (Sam.  xvi:  1-5).  Be¬ 
sides,  David  seems  to  have  given  some  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Bethlehem  to 
Chimham,  the  son  of  Barzillai,  which  was  afterward  known  as  “the  Habit¬ 
ation  of  Chimham”  (2  Sam.  xix:37,  38;  Jer.  xli :  1 7),  and  if  he  did,  it  was 
probably  a  part  of  his  inheritance  from  Jesse.  Moreover,  Jesse  is  always 
mentioned  with  a  certain  marked  respect,  as  if  descent  from  him  were  a 
distinction.  David  is  constantly  spoken  of  as  “the  son  of  Jesse,”  and  even 
the  Saviour  is  called  the  “Root  of  Jesse,”  and  “a  Rod  out  of  the  stock  of 
Jesse”  (Isa.  xi:  1-10). 

When  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  had  deserted  the  unhappy  Saul,  the 
prophet  Samuel  was  sent  to  Bethlehem  to  anoint  a  king  for  Israel.  At  a 
sacrificial  feast,  at  which  the  elders  were  present,  and  to  which  Jesse,  was 
particularly  invited,  seven  of  his  sons  were  successively  rejected;  but  when 
David,  the  youngest  of  all,  was  brought  in,  the  prophet  beheld  in  him  the 
“man  after  God’s  own  heart”,  who  should  reign  over  God’s  people  (1  Sam. 
xvi).  Still,  the  lad,  though  designated  to  so  high  an  office,  continued  to 
keep  his  father’s  flock  in  the  Plains  of  Bethlehem,  tending  his  teeming 
ewes,  perhaps,  in  the  same  fields  where  the  shepherds  long  afterward 
heard  the  glad  tidings  of  the  birth  of  David’s  greater  Son,  the  Christ 
(1  Sam.  xvii:i5;  Psa.  lxxviii:7o,  71).  When  he  became  a  member  of 
Saul’s  household,  he  still  returned  to  share  in  the  family  feasts  of  his 
father’s  house  (1  Sam.  xx:6)  and  some  of  his  bravest  companions  and  fel¬ 
low  soldiers,  of  later  times,  were  Bethlehemites,  as  the  three  brothers,  Joab, 
and  Abishai,  and  the  unfortunate  Asahel,  “light  of  foot  as  a  wild  roe,”  whom 
they  buried  “in  the  sepulcher  of  his  father,  which  was  at  Bethlehem” 
(2  Sam.  ii :  18,  32).  When  David  had  become  a  war-worn  outlaw  under 


BETHLEHEM. 


1 14 

the  persecution  of  Saul,  and  had  at  last  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  a  king¬ 
dom,  which  was  overrun  by  its  enemies,  he  seems  often  to  have  recalled 
the  peaceful  days  and  simple  pleasures  of  his  early  years.  The  psalms 
are  full  of  references  to  the  occupations  of  his  youth,  and  the  twenty-third 
psalm,  which  has  given  hope  and  comfort  to  many  thousands  of  hearts,  is 
a  pastoral  lyric  of  the  flock  and  the  wilderness.  When  he  was  in  hiding 
near  the  cave  of  Adullum,  Bethlehem  was  occupied  by  the  Philistines;  and 
one  day,  suffering  from  thirst,  he  incautiously  said  in  the  hearing  of  three 
of  his  mighty  men,  “Oh,  that  one  would  give  me  drink  of  the  water  of  the 
well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate!”  Forthwith,  the  three  heroes 
made  their  way  to  Bethlehem,  braved  the  hostile  garrison,  drew  water  from 
the  well  beside  the  gate,  and  brought  it  to  their  chief.  But  David  would 
not  drink  the  water  which  might  have  cost  brave  men’s  lives.  He  said,  “Far 
be  it  from  me,  Lord,  that  I  should  do  this!  Is  not  this  the  blood  of  the 
men  that  went  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives?”  The  “well  of  David”  is  still  at 
Bethlehem.  Wells  are  precious  things  in  that  dry  land;  they  are  seldom 
forgotten,  never  destroyed,  except  by  enemies  in  war.  There  are  two  wells 
which  claim  the  honor  of  David’s  name,  but  the  claim  of  one  of  them  is 
much  stronger  than  that  of  the  other.  Dr.  Geikie,  after  saying  that  there 
are  five  shafts  sunk  into  the  rock  (although  he  himself  saw  only  three), 
adds  that  “the  largest  of  the  three  openings  proved  to  be  twenty-six  feet 
deep,  but  it  is  partly  filled  with  stones,  so  that  the  original  depth  cannot 
be  known.  Between  two  and  three  feet  of  water  stood  in  the  bottom;  but 
the  other  openings,  which  were  about  twelve  feet,  were  dry.  The  water  in 
the  first  pit  was  fresh  and  good,  like  that  of  a  spring,  and  it  is  probable 
that  it  flows  from  one,  though  most  of  the  water  seems  to  find  some  escape 
through  the  rocks.  In  David’s  time  it  may  have  risen  much  higher  in  the 
shaft.  Situated  in  the  only  spot  where  ‘a  gate’  could  have  been  built — 
the  north  end  of  the  town,  which  alone  joins  the  country  without  an  inter¬ 
vening  valley — this  well  seems  fairly  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  that  from 
which  the  precious  draught  was  brought  to  the  shepherd  king.  It  is,  by 
the  way,  the  only  spring  in  Bethlehem,  the  town  depending  entirely  on 
cisterns.” 

From  the  time  of  his  accession  to  the  throne,  we  do  not  hear  that 
David  ever  visited  the  city  of  his  birth;  but  he  may  nevertheless  have  been 


BETHLEHEM 


RUTH  II :  5 — “then  said  boaz,  whose  damsel  is  this?” 
tified  it  and  so  made  it  liable  to  military  attack  (2  Chron.  xi:6).  Many  of 
its  inhabitants  must  have  been  carried  into  captivity  at  Babylon,  since  we 
read  that  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  Bethlehemites,  by 
which  we  are  to  understand  heads  of  families,  returned  from  captivity  with 
Zerubbabel  (Ezra  ii:  21).  Yet  Bethlehem,  though  not  famous,  was  not 
forgotten;  it  was  a  city  of  prophecy.  It  was  not  great  in  the  history 


there  frequently.  The  distance  of  Bethlehem  from  Hebron,  where  he  had 
his  first  capital,  is  only  twelve  miles,  as  the  crow  flies;  and  from  Zion,  his 
later  capital,  it  is  only  five.  We  may  therefore  easily  suppose,  that  he 
visited  the  home  of  his  youth,  though  no  incident  which  called  him  there 
may  have  been  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  recorded  by  the  sacred  his¬ 
torian.  For  a  long  time  Bethlehem  had  the  happiness  of  places  that  have 
no  history.  For  centuries  we  hear  nothing  of  it  whatever.  Rehoboam  for- 


BETHLEHEM. 


1 16 

of  Israel,  but  it  was  to  be  illustrious  among  the  cities  of  the  world.  So 
said  the  prophet  Micah:  “But  thou,  Bethlehem-Ephratah,  though  thou  be 
little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  He  come  forth 
unto  Me  that  is  to  be  Ruler  in  Israel;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from 
of  old,  from  everlasting”  (Micah  v:2‘). 

At  a  little  distance  from  Bethlehem  is  Migdal  Eder,  “the  Tower  of 
Eder”  (Gen.  xxxv:2i),  or  “the  tower  of  the  flock”  (Mic.  iv : 8 ;  v:2),  from 
which  the  shepherds  watched  for  enemies  by  whom  their  flocks  might  be 
assailed.  Its  place  is  now  occupied  by  a  neglected  chapel,  called  “the 
Angel  to  the  Shepherds."  It  consists  only  of  a  rude  crypt  or  cave  in  a 
grove  of  olive  trees;  but  why  it  should  be  so  neglected  is  difficult  to  guess, 
since  by  unvarying  tradition  it  is  the  spot  at  which  the  shepherds  on  the 
Plain  of  Bethlehem  heard  the  angelic  proclamation  of  the  good  tidings  of 
the  birth  of  Christ.  It  is  needless  to  enlarge  upon  that  story,  or  to  mar 
the  sublime  simplicity  of  the  gospel  of  St.  Luke  by  adding  to  his  words: 

“There  were  shepherds  abiding  in  the  field,  keeping  watch  over  their  flocks  by 
night.  And  lo,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon  them,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shone  round  about  them;  and  they  were  sore  afraid. 

“And  the  angel  said  unto  them,  Fear  not;  for  behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of 
great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day,  in  the  City  of 
David,  a  Saviour  which  is  Christ,  the  Lord.  And  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you;  ye  shall 
find  the  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes,  lying  in  a  manger. 

“And  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host,  prais¬ 
ing  God  and  saying,  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good-will 
toward  men. 

“And  it  came  to  pass,  as  the  angels  were  gone  away  from  them  into  heaven,  the 
shepherds  said  one  to  another,  Let  us  now  go  even  unto  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing 
which  is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  known  unto  us.  And  they  came  in 
haste,  and  found  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the  Babe  lying  in  a  manger. 

“And  when  they  had  seen  it,  they  made  known  abroad  the  saying  which  was  told 
them  concerning  the  child.  And  all  they  that  heard  it  wondered  at  those  things 
which  were  told  them  by  the  shepherds.  But  Mary  kept  all  these  things  and  pon¬ 
dered  them  in  her  heart. 

“And  the  shepherds  returned,  glorifying  and  praising  God  for  all  the  things  which 
they  had  heard  and  seen.”  (Luke  ii:  8-20). 

During  the  governorship  of  Cyrenius  (or  more  properly,  of  Quirinus) 
over  the  province  of  Syria,  Joseph  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  had  been 


aHH 

ipM# 


IBP 


WOMEN  OF  BETHLEHEM 


1 1 8 


BETHLEHEM. 


w 

ffi 

w 

h-l 

a 

H 

W 


required  by  an  edict  of  the  Emperor  Augustus  Caesar,  to  go  to  the  place 
to  which,  by  descent,  they  belonged,  to  be  enrolled  in  a  general  census. 
Nazareth  was  within  the  limits  of  that  province,  and  it  may  have  been  a 
concession  or  courtesy  which  required  persons  belonging  by  birth  or 
descent  to  the  kingdom  of  Herod  to  be  enrolled  in  his  dominions.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  toward  the  middle  of  winter  the  holy  pair  went  down  from 

Nazareth  to  Bethlehem,  a  distance  of  eighty 
miles,  to  the  city  of  their  forefathers. 

Joseph  was  undoubtedly  of  the  line  of  David, 
and  both  the  genealogies  of  our  Lord,  which  are 
given  in  the  Gospels,  are  genealogies  of  Joseph. 
That  Mary  also  was  of  the  royal  race  is  clearly 
implied  in  every  part  of  the  New  Testament 
(Luke  i:  32;  Acts  ii:  30;  xiii:  22;  Rom.  i. :  3). 
S  Thus  Mary  and  Joseph  were  at  least  distantly 
o  related,  and  -it  has  been  conjectured  that  they 
may  have  been  cousins,  so  that  the  genealogy  of 
Joseph  may  really  be  the  genealogy  of  Mary 
^  likewise.  The  sacred  care  with  which  the  Jews 
have  always  kept  the  record  of  their  genealogies 
has  not  only  been  of  interest,  but  has  been  of 
great  historical  value.  During  the  discussion  of 
a  bill  for  the  removal  of  the  civil  disabilities  of 
the  Jews  in  England,  a  member  of  parliament 
spoke  of  the  Jewish  people  as  lying  under  the  curse  invoked  by  Christ’s 
murderers,  who  said,  “His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children!”  Not 
long  afterward  a  Jew  living  in  London  publicly  affirmed,  and  offered 
to  prove,  that  that  curse  could  not  rightly  fall  upon  him  or  his  fam¬ 
ily,  as  his  genealogy  showed  that  his  forefathers  had  been  settled 
in  Spain,  generations  before  the  birth  of  our  Lord.  The  documents 
are  said  to  have  been  actually  produced,  and  to  have  satisfied  com¬ 
petent  persons  that  the  claim  founded  upon  them  was  well  sustained. 
Within  a  year  past,  a  Jew  of  New  York,  resenting  the  social  ostracism  of 
his  people,  has  asserted  in  the  public  pi  ess  that  he  can  trace  his  descent 
in  a  direct  line  to  King  David  and  also  to  Aaron,  the  brother  of  Moses. 


BETHLEHEM. 


1 19 

It  may  well  be  then,  that  Joseph,  knowing  that  the  child  to  be  born  was  of 
the  line  of  David,  and  cherishing  the  hope  that  he  might  prove  to  be  the 
long  expected  Messiah,  chose  to  be  enrolled  at  Bethlehem  where  the  Mes¬ 
siah  was  to  be  born,  rather  than  at  Nazareth. 

It  may  or  may  not  be  that  Joseph  was  a  poor  man.  Nothing  on  that 
subject  appears  in  the  record.  That  he  was  a  carpenter  by  trade  proves 
very  little,  since  all  Jews  taught  their  children  trades.  The  probability  is 
that  he  was  a  man  in  ordinary  circumstances;  certainly  not  wealthy,  but 
not  in  abject  poverty.  If,  however,  he  was  even  of  the  poorest  of  his 
class,  that  would  in  no  way  militate  against  his  royal  descent.  The  grand¬ 
son  of  Moses  was  almost  a  vagabond;  and  at  this  day  it  is  not  uncommon 
at  the  East  to  see  mendicants  and  paupers  wearing  the  green  turban, 
which  proclaims  them  to  be  descendants  of  Mahomet.  Indeed,  when  we 
think  of  the  number  of  descendants  any  man  may  have  after  ten  or 
twelve  generations,  it  is  quite  certain  that  a  correct  list  of  them,  carefully 
kept  for  a  few  centuries,  would  include  persons  in  all  ranks  of  life.  This, 
perhaps,  is  one  reason  why,  at  the  East,  where  genealogies  are  sacredly 
preserved,  there  are  hardly  any  class  distinctions.  The  rich  and  the  poor 
meet  together  with  none  of  the  feeling  of  disparity  which  the  inequalities 
of  wealth  create  in  western  nations ;  and  although  the  pacha  of  to-day  may 
be  a  person  to  be  feared  or  courted  because  of  the  power  he  possesses, 
the  humblest  suitor  who  comes  before  him  has  no  feeling  of  personal 
inferiority  to  the  man  who  chances  for  the  time  to  hold  that  power. 

Humbly  enough,  nevertheless,  we  may  be  sure,  Joseph  and  Mary 
approached  the  city  of  their  fathers;  and  when  they  came  there,  they  dis¬ 
covered  that  the  khan  or  caravanserai,  which  St.  Luke  calls  “the  inn,”  was 
already  full  of  guests.  The  inn,  at  best,  would  be  a  poor  place  of  abode. 
It  would  simply  be  a  square  building  of  one  story,  consisting  of  little  rooms, 
or  cells,  surrounding  a  court-yard,  in  which  the  cattle  were  sheltered. 
These  rooms,  or  cells,  would  be  entirely  closed  on  three  sides,  and  entirely 
open  on  the  side  facing  the  court.  The  flooring  would  be  raised  some¬ 
what  above  the  court,  but  they  would  be  quite  unfurnished,  and  absolutely 
without  privacy.  Their  occupants  would  be  left  without  attendance;  they 
must  draw  their  own  water  and  prepare  their  own  provisions,  and  might 
rest  on  such  mats  or  carpets  as  they  brought  with  them. 


120 


BETHLEHEM. 


Even  such  poor  entertainment  was  denied  the  parents  of  Christ; 
“there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn”  (Luke  ii:7).  It  is  not  unusual,  in 
many  parts  of  Palestine,  for  caves  to  be  used  as  stables;  indeed,  there  are 
khans  which  are  simply  caves;  and  nothing  is  more  common  than  for  fam¬ 
ilies  to  occupy  a  room  or  rooms  immediately  adjoining  a  stable.  In  some 
such  cave-stable,  according  to  the  universal  tradition  of  Christendom, 
Joseph  and  Mary  were  obliged  to  take  refuge.  St.  Justin,  the  martyr, 
who  was  born  at  Shechem,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  Christian  fathers, 
says  that  Jesus  was  born  in  a  cave  at  Bethlehem;  and  the  saintly  Jerome, 
moved  by  a  deep  spirit  of  piety,  spent  many  years  of  his  long  life  of 
learned  usefulness  (from  A.  D.  386  to  420),  at  Bethlehem  and  in  a  cave 
near  that  of  the  Nativity.  Plow  long  Joseph  and  Mary  tarried  at  Bethle¬ 
hem  before  the  Holy  Child  was  born,  we  do  not  know;  but  it  was  in  the 
silent,  wonderful  night  of  which  St.  Luke  writes,  that  the  Son  of  God 
came  to  visit  us,  in  great  humility. 

If  the  record  of  St.  Luke  is  brief  and  simple,  not  such  are  the  stories 
with  which  popular  imagination  soon  decked  the  wondrous  tale.  The 
apocryphal  gospels  are  full  of  strange  marvels.  They  tell  us  that  the  cave 
of  Christ’s  birth  was  a  cave  within  a  cave,  and  was  so  dark  that  no  ray  of 
light  ever  reached  it;  but  that  when  the  Blessed  Virgin  entered,  it  was 
forthwith  filled  with  a  clear,  bright  light  that  made  all  things  visible.  They 
tell,  too,  that  when  Christ  was  born,  His  body  shone  with  soft  light,  as  of 
the  rising  sun;  and  there  are  stories  of  the  homage  paid  Him  by  the  dumb 
beasts  that  were  there,  the  ox  and  the  ass  kneeling  before  Him. 

One  of  these  early  tales  it  may  be  worth  while  to  give  entire.  It  is 
as  follows: 

“It  chanced,  as  Mary  and  Joseph  were  going  up  toward  Bethlehem, 
that  the  time  came  when  Jesus  should  be  born;  and  Mary  said  to  Joseph, 
‘Take  me  down  from  the  ass,’  and  he  took  her  down  and  said  to  her, 
‘Where  shall  I  take  thee,  for  there  is  no  inn  here?’  Then  he  found  a  cave 
near  the  grave  of  Rachel,  the  wife  of  the  Patriarch  Jacob,  the  mother  of 
Joseph  and  Benjamin,  and  light  never  entered  the  cave,  but  it  was  always 
filled  with  darkness.  And  the  sun  was  then  just  going  down.  Into  this 
cave  he  led  her,  and  left  his  two  sons  beside  her,  and  went  out  toward 
Bethlehem  to  seek  help.  But  when  Mary  entered  the  cave  it  was  pres- 


BETHLEHEM. 


1 2 1 


ently  filled  with  light,  and  beams,  as  if  from  the  sun,  shone  around;  and  so 
it  continued,  day  and  night,  while  she  remained  there.  In  this  cave  the 
Child  was  born,  and  the  angels  were  round  Him  at  His  birth,  and  wor¬ 
shiped  the  New  Born,  and  said,  ‘Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  peace 
on  earth,  and  good-will  to  men.’ 

“Meanwhile,  Joseph  was  wandering  about,  seeking  help;  and  when  he 
looked  up  to  heaven,  he  saw  that  the  pole  of  the  heavens  stood  still,  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  stopped  in  the  midst  of  their  flight,  and  the  sky  was 
darkened.  And  looking  on  the  earth  he  saw  a  dish  full  of  food  prepared, 


INTERIOR  OF  A  KHAN. 

and  workmen  resting  round  it,  with  their  hands  on  the  dish,  to  eat;  and 
those  who  were  stretching  out  their  hands  did  not  take  any  food;  and 
those  who  were  lifting  their  hands  to  their  mouths  did  not  do  so;  but  the 
faces  of  all  were  turned  upward.  And  he  saw  sheep  which  were  being 
driven  along,  and  the  sheep  stood  still;  and  the  shepherd  lifted  his  hand  to 
strike  them,  but  his  hand  remained  uplifted.  And  he  came  to  a  spring, 
and  saw  the  goats  with  their  mouths  touching  the  water;  but  they  did  not 
drink;  they  were  under  a  spell;  for  all  things  at  that  moment  were  turned 
from  their  course.”  (Protevangelium  C.  17-20). 

Long  ages  afterward,  devout  imagination  loved  to  dream  that  physical 


122 


BETHLEHEM. 


nature  recognized  the  time  of  Christ’s  birth  every  year.  Thus  Shakespeare 
says: 

“Some  say  that  ever  ’gainst  that  season  comes, 

Wherein  our  Saviour’s  birth  is  celebrated, 

The  bird  of  dawning  singeth  all  night  long; 

And  then,  they  say,  no  spirit  can  walk  abroad; 

The  nights  are  wholesome;  then  no  planets  strike; 

No  fairy  takes,  nor  witch  hath  power  to  charm; 

So  hallow’d  and  so  gracious  is  the  time.” 

On  Christmas  eve,  in  the  olden  time,  it  was  believed  that  for  an  hour 
the  bees  awoke  from  their  winter  sleep  and  hummed  their  hymn  of  praise; 
that  the  cattle  at  midnight  knelt  in  their  stalls;  and  that  the  sheep  in  their 
folds  formed  a  procession  in  honor  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  These  pretty 
fancies  were  unfounded,  but  at  least  they  were  poetical,  and  they  were  cer¬ 
tainly  devout.  Only  tender  hearts,  musing  that  such  things  ought  to  be, 
could  have  come  to  dream  that  they  must  be,  and  so  at  last  to  believe  that 
they  actually  happened.  And  yet  the  simple  story  of  St.  Luke  is  more 
majestic  than  all  these  pretty  dreams. 

On  the  eighth  day  after  his  birth,  the  young  child  was  circumcised  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  law  of  Moses.  St.  Luke  is  content  to  mention  the  fact 
without  comment,  and  we  need  not  dwell  upon  it  further  than  to  say  that 
by  his  circumcision  he  was  acknowledged  to  have  been  “made  under  the 
law,”  as  the  apostle  says  (Gal.  iv:4).  Although  the  ritual  law  of  Moses 
was  all  worn  out  and  ready  to  vanish  away  forever,  it  was  still  God’s  ordi¬ 
nance;  and,  until  the  appointed  time  should  come,  it  was  not  to  be  disre¬ 
garded,  but  obeyed  .As  Christ  Himself  said  afterward,  he  did  not  come  to 
destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it  with  a  new  and  larger  spirit;  and  to  his 
disciples  He  said,  “The  scribes  and  pharisees  (still)  sit  in  Moses’  seat;  all, 
therefore,  whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe,  that  observe  and  do.”  (Matt, 
xxiii.  2,  3).  From  his  very  birth  He  was  content  in  all  things  to  be  an  ex¬ 
ample  of  humble  obedience  to  lawful  ordinances. 

It  was  at  his  circumcision  that,  according  to  the  usual  custom  of  the 
time,  he  received  the  name  which  he  was  to  wear  and  to  adorn  throughout 
his  earthly  life.  It  was  then  that  “his  name  was  called  Jesus,  which  was 
so  called  of  the  angel  before  He  was  conceived  in  the  womb”  (Luke  ii :  2 1). 
Jesus  is  a  Greek  form  of  the  Hebrew  name  Hoshea,  which  means  Salvation , 


BETHLEHEM 


123 


or  of  Joshua ,  which  signifies  Whose  salvation  is  Jehovah.  It  was  a  common 
name  in  Old  Testament,  and  it  was  hardly  less  common  in  the  time  of 
Christ.  Josephus  alone  mentions  no  less  than  twelve  persons  of  that  name, 
and  we  find  it  several  times  in  the  New  Testament.  The  full  name  of  the 
robber  who  was  preferred  to  the  Saviour  (Matt,  xxvii:  16)  was  probably 
Jesus  Barabbas;  in  Luke  iii :  29  we  find  the  same  name  in  the  form  of 


THE  ANGEL  AND  THE  SHEPHERDS.  (LUKE  Ii:  8-I4.) 

Jose;  in  Acts  xiii : 6,  we  read  of  a  Jew  called  Bar-Jes7is,  and  in  Col.  iv:  n, 
of  Jesus  Justus.  In  Acts  vii  145,  and  Heb.  iv :  8,  the  Joshua  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  mentioned  by  the  Greek  equivalent,  Jesus.  By  its  historical 
association  with  the  victorious  commander,  Joshua,  Jesus  was  a  fit  name 
to  be  borne  by  the  Saviour  of  the  world;  and  probably  it  was  none  the  less 
fit,  because  it  was  too  common  to  attract  attention.  To  many  millions  of 
men  it  has  come  to  be  the  sweetest  and  most  precious  of  all  names,  giving 


124 


BETHLEHEM. 


strength  to  the  weary,  hope  to  the  faint-hearted,  and  faith  to  the  faltering. 
It  is  the  name  by  which  men  and  women  have  lived  lives  of  holy  heroism, 
and  which  countless  thousands  have  fondly  breathed  with  their  last  breath. 
So  it  will  be  while  time  shall  last,  and  in  the  world  to  come  it  will  still  be 
the  alpha  and  the  omega,  the  first  and  last  and  tenderest  of  all  the  names 
in  heaven. 

After  the  circumcision  the  parents  of  Jesus  still  tarried  at  Bethlehem; 
and  on  the  fortieth  day  after  His  birth,  the  Blessed  Virgin  went,  according 
to  the  law,  to  celebrate  her  purification.  The  Holy  Child  took  no  conscious 
part  in  that  sacred  ceremony,  so  we  need  not  here  dwell  upon  the  scene  of 
its  performance.  The  offering  of  a  woman  after  child-birth  was  required  to 
be  a  lamb  of  the  first  year  for  a  burnt  offering,  and  a  turtle  dove  or  a  pigeon 
for  a  sin  offering,  but  those  who  were  not  wealthy  might  bring  two  turtle 
doves  or  two  young  pigeons  and  not  a  lamb  (Lev.  xii:  1-8).  A  money 
offering  was  also  required  when  the  child  was  the  first-born  of  his  mother 
(Num.  xviii:  16).  Joseph  and  Mary  brought  the  offering  of  the  poor  (Luke 
ii :  22-24). 

We  shall  not  here  describe  the  Temple  to  which  they  went,  and  there 
was  no  protracted  ceremony  which  requires  description.  But  an  incident 
occurred  as  they  were  entering  the  Temple  which  cannot  be  omitted.  As 
they  passed  into  the  courts  of  the  sanctuary,  they  were  met  by  an  old  man 
of  Jerusalem,  called  Simeon,  who  was  gifted  with  unusual  spiritual  privileges. 
Holy  and  devout  in  life,  he  was  one  of  those  who  waited  for  the  coming  of 
the  Christ;  and  in  some  way  not  known  to  us,  it  had  been  revealed  to  him 
that  he  should  not  die  until  he  had  seen  Christ.  Moved  by  a  spiritual  in¬ 
tuition  he  entered  the  Temple  just  as  Joseph  and  Mary  had  arrived,  and 
instantly  the  old  man  knew  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  his  Lord.  Tak¬ 
ing  the  young  Child  in  his  arms,  he  exclaimed  (Luke  ii:  29-32): 

“Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to  thy  word; 

For  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation, 

Which  Thou  has  prepared  before  the  face  of  all  people; 

A  Light  to  lighten  the  gentiles,  and  the  Glory  of  thy  people  Israel.  ” 

Having  seen  the  Saviour,  Simeon  sang  his  Nunc  dimittis  with  a  glad 
and  thankful  heart;  and  we  perceive  that,  even  under  the  law,  he  had  a 
heart  prepared  for  a  Saviour  of  the  whole  world,  when  we  find  him  prais¬ 
ing  God,  not  only  for  the  coming  glory  of  Israel,  but  also  for  a  light  that 


BETHLEHEM 


was  to  lighten  the  gentiles.  Simeon  shared  the  spirit  of  the  prophet  who 
had  said,  “The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great  light; 
and  they  that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon  them  hath 
the  light  shined”  (Isa.  ix:  2).  But  the  prophetic  eye  of  Simeon  saw,  more¬ 
over,  that  the  light  of  Christ  should  be  made  to  shine  through  darkness 
and  many  sorrows;  he  foretold  that  through  him  there  should  befalling,  as 
well  as  rising  again,  to  many  in  Israel;  and  with  pitying  sympathy,  we  may 


THE  NATIVITY.  (LUKE  II :  I  5_ 20.  ) 


not  doubt,  he  warned  the  Virgin  Mother  of  the  sword  that  should  pierce 
her  heart  also  (Luke  ii:  35).  Hardly  had  his  words  of  prophecy  been 
uttered  when  another  aged  saint  came  in  with  confirmation  of  their  truth 
(Luke  ii:  36-38).  Anna,  too,  was  a  prophetess,  and  we  may  suppose  that 
Simeon  and  Anna  accompanied  Joseph  and  Mary  to  their  humble  sacrifice. 

Once  more,  having  performed  their  duty  as  faithful  Israelites,  they 


126 


BETHLEHEM. 


retraced  their  steps  to  Bethlehem,  passing  on  their  way  the  Tomb  of 
Rachel.  It  was  now  almost  six  weeks  since  the  birth  of  Jesus,  but  how 
much  longer  they  remained  in  Bethlehem  we  have  no  means  of  learning. 
We  know,  however,  that  before  two  years,  and  possibly  much  sooner,  they 
were  compelled  to  leave,  perhaps  forever,  the  little  town  which  thenceforth 
for  them,  and  for  mankind  at  large,  had  become  the  holiest  city  of  the 
world. 

While  these  events  were  happening,  Jerusalem  was  groaning  under  the 
cruel  and  capricious  hand  of  Herod.  That  monarch  was  not  even  an 
Israelite,  though  he  was  descended  from  Esau,  through  his  father,  Anti¬ 
pater,  who  was  an  Idumean,  and  from  Ishmael,  through  his  mother,  Cypros, 
who  was  an  Arabian.  When  the  Sanhedrin  had  boldly  told  him  that  he 
could  not  be  the  rightful  sovereign  of  Israel,  his  reply  had  been  to  put  the 
offending  elders  to  the  sword.  Herod  was  a  Greek  in  life,  an  oriental  in 
revenge,  a  Roman  in  allegiance  and  policy.  His  rule  was  maintained  only 
by  the  authority  of  Rome,  and  his  personal  safety  was  secured  only 
by  the  presence  of  his  mercenary  guards.  In  a  conspiracy,  not  long  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  thousands  of  the  Pharisees  had  been  ruthlessly  slaugh¬ 
tered,  and  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  had  run  with  blood.  Old,  savage,  sus¬ 
picious,  Herod  well  knew  that  the  advent  of  a  rightful  heir  of  David  would 
be  hailed  with  joy  by  the  Jews.  No  one  knew  better  than  the  crafty 
Idumean  that,  under  the  guise  of  outward  submission,  there  lay  a  seething 
mass  of  outraged  nationality,  and  bitter  hatred  of  himself. 

We  may  conceive  the  tumult  of  excitement  which  would  be  raised 
both  in  the  people  and  in  Herod  by  the  sudden  arrival  in  Jerusalem  of 
“Wise  Men,”  or  Magian  astrologers,  from  the  East,  saying  that  they  had 
seen  the  star  of  a  King  of  the  Jews,  and  had  come  to  pay  their  homage  to 
him.  From  what  part  of  the  further  East  these  mysterious  persons  came  is 
not  known.  They  may  have  been  Parsees — that  is,  Persian  followers  of 
Zoroaster — or  they  may  have  come  from  Babylon,  where  astrology  was  a 
sacred  profession,  without  which  no  important  public  business  could  be 
undertaken.  At  Babylon  the  Magians  were  divided  into  recognized  classes 
(Dan.  ii:  2;  iv:  7),  under  a  chief  who  was  known  as  the  Rab-Mag 
(Jer.  xxxix:3).  That  the  Wise  Men  of  St.  Mathew’s  Gospel  came  from 
Babylon,  however,  is  a  mere  conjecture,  like  other  beautiful  and  fanci- 


BETHLEHEM 


127 


ful  conjectures  and  traditions  which  have  been  gathered  in  great  num¬ 
bers  round  their  story.  The  prophet  Isaiah  said  of  the  Messiah,  “The 
gentiles  shall  come  to  thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy 
rising;”  therefore  it  has  been  supposed  that  these  Wise  Men  were 
persons  of  royal  dignity  in  their  own  lands;  and  the  gifts  which  they 
brought  to  offer  to  the  new-born  King  of  Israel  have  been  supposed 


ADORATION  OF  THE  WISE  MEN.  (MATT.  lit  I-I2.) 


to  be  the  presents  which  the  Psalmist  said  should  be  brought  by  the 
Kings  of  Tarshish  and  the  Isles  of  Sheba  and  Seba  (Psa.  lxxii:  10). 
An  early  tradition  counted  no  less  than  twelve  of  these  royal  Wise 
Men,  but  in  later  centuries  the  number  was  reduced  to  three,  whose 
names,  extraction  and  personal  appearance  the  Venerable  Bede  has  told 
with  much  particularity.  Melchior,  according  to  Bede,  was  an  aged  man  of 
the  race  of  Shem,  with  gray  hair  and  a  flowing  white  beard;  Caspar,  of  the 


128 


BETHLEHEM. 


race  of  Ham,  was  a  ruddy  and  beardless  youth;  Balthasar,  a  son  of  Japhet, 
was  of  middle  age,  noble  in  bearing  and  swarthy  of  countenance.  In  their 
persons,  therefore,  these  three  represented  all  the  descendants  of  Noah 
and  all  the  ages  of  human  life.  Their  gifts  were  symbolic  of  the  dignity 
of  him  whom  they  approached.  Melchior  gave  gold  as  if  in  tribute  to  a 
a  king;  Caspar  offered  incense  to  the  Son  of  God;  Balthasar  brought 
myrrh  for  the  burial  of  the  Lamb,  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
Such  fancies  are  harmless  and  poetic;  but  there  is  something  repulsive  in 
the  realistic  delusion  which  exhibits,  on  a  gilded  shrine  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Cologne,  three  skulls  set  in  jewels,  and  calls  them  the  skulls  of  “the 
Three  Kings.” 

From  very  early  times  it  was  believed  that  the  position  of  the  stars  at 
the  moment  of  a  man’s  birth  affected  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  and  so 
gave  a  prediction  of  the  fortunes  that  should  attend  him.  This  belief  was 
by  no  means  confined  to  the  heathen;  the  Jews  also  shared  it;  the  Talmud 
says,  “The  planets  give  wisdom  and  riches;  the  life  and  portion  of  children 
hang  not  on  righteousness,  but  on  their  star.”  The  study  of  astrology  was 
so  esteemed  as  to  become  peculiarly  the  study  of  the  rabbis;  “the  calcula¬ 
tion  of  the  stars,”  says  Pirke  Aboth ,  “is  the  joy  of  the  rabbi.”  The  same 
superstition  lingered  long  in  Christendom.  Even  our  own  Shakespeare  al¬ 
ludes  to  it  in  comparatively  recent  times.  Thus: 


“When  beggars  die  there  are  no  comets  seen; 

The  heavens  themselves  blaze  forth  the  death  of  princes.” 

— Jul.  Ccesar.,  11:2. 


And  again: — 


“Comets  portending  chance  of  time  and  states, 

Brandish  your  crystal  tresses  in  the  sky, 

And  with  them  scourge  the  bad  revolting  stars 

That  have  consented  unto  Henry’s  death.’’  — Henry  VI,  1:1. 


The  prophecies  of  the  Messiah  were  often  connected  with  the  mention 
of  stars  and  heavenly  light,  as  in  the  sublime  prediction  of  Balaam,  “I  shall 
see  Him,  but  not  now:  I  shall  behold  Him,  but  not  nigh;  there  shall  come 
a  star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  scepter  shall  rise  out  of  Israel;  out  of  Jacob 
shall  come  He  that  is  to  have  dominion”  (Num.  xxiv:  17-19).  By  the 
rabbis  it  was  said  that  when  the  Christ  should  appear  a  star  should  rise  in 
the  east,  shining  in  great  brightness,  and  having  seven  other  stars  fighting 


BETHLEHEM. 


129 


against  it  on  every  side.  One  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  Christ  an  un¬ 
fortunate  imposter  who  professed  to  be  Christ,  took  to  himself  the  name  of 
Bar-Cochba,  or  Son  of  a  Star;  so  closely  was  the  idea  of  starry  influences 
and  revelations  connected  with  the  Messianic  hopes  of  the  Jews.  Moreover, 
there  are  good  reasons  for  believing  that  about  that  very  time  of  our 
Saviour’s  birth,  there  actually  were  conjunctions  of  the  planets  which  were 
so  unusual  and  so  remarkable,  that  they  must  have  attracted  great  attention 
among  all  astrologers.  Archdeacon  Farrar  says:  “On  December  27th, 
1603,  there  occurred  a  conjunction  of  the  two  largest  superior  planets, 
Saturn  and  Jupiter,  in  the  zodiacal  line  of  the  fishes,  in  the  watery  trigon. 
In  the  following  spring  they  were  joined  in  the  fiery  trigon  by  Mars,  and  in 
September,  1604,  there  appeared  in  the  foot  of  Ophiuchus,  and  between 
Mars  and  Saturn,  a  new  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  which,  after  shining 
for  a  whole  year,  gradually  waned  in  March,  1606,  and  finally  disappeared. 
Brunowski,  the  pupil  of  Kepler,  who  first  noticed  it,  describes  it  as  spark¬ 
ling  with  an  interchange  of  colors,  like  a  diamond,  and  as  not  being  in  any 
way  nebulous  or  offering  any  analogy  to  a  comet.  These  remarkable  phe¬ 
nomena  attracted  the  attention  of  the  great  Kepler,  who,  from  his  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  astrology,  knew  the  immense  importance  which  such  a  conjunction 
would  have  had  in  the  eyes  of  the  Magi,  and  wished  to  discover  whether 
any  such  conjunction  had  taken  place  about  the  period  of  our  Lord’s  birth. 
Now,  there  is  a  conjunction  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  in^the  same  trigon  about 
every  twenty  years; -but  in  every  two  hundred  years  they  pass  into  another 
trigon,  and  are  not  conjoined  in  the  same  trigon  again  (after  passing 
through  the  entire  zodiac)  till  after  the  lapse  of  794  years,  4  months  and 
19  days.  By  calculating  backward,  Kepler  discovered  that  the  same 
conjunction  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  in  Pisces,  had  happened  no  less  than 
three  times  in  the  year  of  Rome  747,  and  that  the  planet  Mars  had  joined 
them  in  the  spring  of  748;  and  the  general  fact  that  there  was  such  a  com¬ 
bination  at  this  period  has  been  verified  by  a  number  of  independent  inves¬ 
tigators,  and  does  not  seem  to  admit  of  a  denial. 

“The  appearance  and  disappearance  of  new  stars  is  a  phenomenon  by 
no  means  so  rare  as  to  admit  of  any  possible  doubt.  We  should  have 
strong  and  strange  confirmation  of  our  main  fact  in  St.  Matthew’s  narrative, 
if  any  reliance  could  be  placed  on  the  assertion  that,  in  the  astronomical 


130 


BETHLEHEM 


tables  of  the  Chinese,  a  record  has  been  preserved  that  a  new  star  did  appear 
at  this  very  epoch.” 

At  the  East  such  a  phenomenon  would  surely  receive  a  Messianic  in¬ 
terpretation,  for  at  the  East,  as  we  learn  from  Tacitus  and  Suetonius,  there 
existed  an  ancient  and  immovable  conviction  that  a  new  empire  was  fated 
to  arise,  having  its  beginning  in  Judea,  and  ultimately  destined  to  over- 


<MBCT.-re. 


;!( 

■ 

®*( 

THE  PRESENTATION  OF  CHRIST  IN  THE  TEMPLE.  (LUKE  II :  22-40). 


spread  the  world.  We  may  imagine,  then,  the  consternation  of  Herod, 
and  the  excitement  of  the  Jews,  when  the  mysterious  strangers  came  ask¬ 
ing,  “Where  is  He  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews?  For  we  have  seen  His 
Star  in  the  east  and  have  come  to  worship  Him.”  (Matt,  ii :  2).  In  answer 
to  Herod  the  priests  and  scribes  unhesitatingly  affirmed  that  the  Christ, 
whose  star  the  Wise  Men  had  undoubtedly  seen,  was  to  be  born  in  Beth¬ 
lehem,  according  to  the  saying  of  the  prophet  (Micah  v:2).  Herod  there- 


BETHLEHEM. 


131 

upon  made  close  inquiry  of  the  Wise  Men,  of  the  precise  time  at  which  the 
star  had  been  first  seen,  and  dismissed  them  to  Bethlehem  to  search  for 
the  new-born  and  dangerous  Child,  saying  that  he  also  desired  to  do  Him 
honor.  The  Wise  Men  departed  from  Jerusalem.  The  way  to  Bethlehem 
was  not  long;  and  as  they  went  their  hearts  were  gladdened  at  the  sight  of 
the  prophetic  star  rising  before  them  and  preceding  them  until  it  rested 
over  the  house  (probably  not  the  cave  stable  of  the  Nativity)  where  the 
young  Child  now  was.  There  they  paid  Him  their  adoration  and  pre¬ 
sented  their  symbolic  gifts;  but  on  receiving  an  angelic  warning,  they  did 
not  return  to  Herod,  but  departed  to  their  distant  country  by  another  way 
(Matt,  ii :  3 — 1 2).  Joseph  also  received  a  heavenly  warning  to  escape  from 
Bethlehem,  and  so  to  save  the  Holy  Child  from  Herod’s  vengeance,  and 
at  once,  in  haste,  without  an  hour’s  delay,  he  quitted  Bethlehem  by  night, 
and  set  out  for  the  distant  land  of  Egypt  (Matt,  ii:  13,  14). 

When  the  savage  monarch  saw  that  he  had  been  outwitted  by  the 
Wise  Men,  he  made  short  work  of  it.  Sending  out  his  soldiers,  he  caused 
every  child  of  two  years  old  or  less,  in  Bethlehem  and  its  neighborhood,  to 
be  put  to  death,  so  as  to  be  quite  sure  that  the  Child  announced  by  the 
Star  of  the  East,  should  not  escape.  Ages  before,  the  prophet  had  fore¬ 
told  the  lamentations  of  the  mothers  of  Bethlehem  over  their  slaughtered 
infants.  In  poetic  language  he  represented  their  wailing  to  have  been 
heard  in  a  village  of  Ramah,  which  no  longer  exists,  but  which  then  stood 
near  Rachel’s  tomb,  and  Rachel  herself  to  have  taken  up  the  cry  of  lamen¬ 
tation  for  he-r  murdered  little  ones.  That  is  the  meaning  of  the  prophecy, 
“In  Ramah  was  a  voice  heard,  lamentation  and  bitter  weeping;  Rachel, 
weeping  for  her  children,  refused  to  be  comforted  for  her  children,  because 
they  are  not”  (Jer.  xxxi:  15;  Matt,  ii:  18).  It  takes  nothing  from  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  this  prophecy  that  it  referred  at  first  to  the  carrying  away  of 
Israel  into  the  captivity;  but  it  adds  something  to  its  pathos  to  remember 
that  the  Jews  constantly  thought  of  Rachel  as  continuing  in  her  grave  to  weep 
at  the  sorrows  of  her  descendants.  Thus  the  Talmud  says:  “When  the 
children  of  Israel  were  driven  in  chains  to  Babylon,  by  the  soldiers  of  Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar,  their  road  led  past  the  tomb  of  our  mother  Rachel;  and  as 
they  came  near  the  tomb,  they  heard  cries  and  bitter  weeping.  It  was  the 
voice  of  Rachel.”  But  while  the  mothers  of  Bethlehem  were  weeping  over 


132 


BETHLEHEM 


their  children,  Joseph  and  Mary  were  bearing  the  Child  of  Promise  to  a 
place  of  safety  in  a  strange  land. 

The  pilgrim  who  visits  Bethlehem  now,  sees  much  such  a  city  as  that 
in  which  the  Lord  was  born.  It  has  from  four  to  five  thousand  inhabitants, 
most  of  whom  are  ■  ~~~ . Christians,  the  Ma¬ 
li  o m m e dan s^^^gjjjjjgp'  .  having  been  ex- 


CHURCH  OF  THE  NATIVITY  AT  BETHLEHEM. 


1831,  and  their  quarter  of  the  town  having  been  destroyed  in  1834, 
by  order  of  Ibrahim  Pasha.  The  chief  industry  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Bethlehem  is  the  manufacture  of  mother-of-pearl  and  olive-wood  crosses, 
chaplets  and  rosaries,  such  as  pilgrims  from  all  lands  love  to  bear  away 


BETHLEHEM. 


133 


with  them  from  Bethlehem.  The  beauty  of  the  women  is  renowned,  and 
their  virtue  is  as  celebrated  as  their  beauty. 

Dr.  Geikie  says  that  the  female  dress  of  the  women  of  Bethlehem  is 
peculiar.  “Maidens  wear  a  light  frame  upon  the  head,  covered  with  a  long 
white  linen  or  cotton  veil,  which  falls  over  the  shoulders  to  the  elbows. 
They  have  ear-rings,  and  over  the  front  of  the  head,  showing  some  of  the 
hair  below  it,  and  just  under  the  veil,  is  a  diadem  of  silver  or  silver-gilt,  with 
a  band  of  ornaments  of  the  same  material  loosely  fastened  to  it  at  both 
ends.  Their  black  hair  hangs  on  their  shoulders  in  heavy  plaits,  just  seen 
beneath  the  veil,  which  always  leaves  the  face  exposed,  for  are  they  not 
Christians?  Their  chief,  or,  indeed,  it  may  be,  their  only  garment,  is  a  long 
blue  or  striped  gown,  generally  of  cotton,  loosely  tied  at  the  waist,  with  open 
sleeves  hanging  down  to  the  knee,  like  those  of  a  surplice.  Its  front  above 
the  waist  is  always  set  off  more  or  less  with  red,  yellow  or  green  patches  of 
cloth,  embroidered  to  the  wearer’s  taste.  Over  this  gown,  however,  the 
well-to-do  are  fond  of  wearing  a  bright  red,  short-sleeved  jacket,  reaching, 
in  some  cases,  to  the  knees.  Matrons  have  a  somewhat  different  head¬ 
dress,  the  veil  resting  on  the  top  of  a  round  brimless  felt  hat,  much  like 
that  of  a  Greek  priest,  and  having  its  front  ornamented,  in  most  cases,  with 
coins.  All  their  ear-rings  and  strings  of  coins  glitter  round  their  necks, 
hanging  at  times  down  to  the  breast.  The  veil  is  about  two  yards  long, 
and  not  quite  a  yard  wide,  large  and  stout  enough  to  hold  anything  the 
wearer  may  think  fit  to  carry  in  it  when  she  turns  it  for  the  time  to  some 
prosaic  use,  as  when  Ruth  held  out  her  veil  to  Boaz,  while  he  filled  it  with 
six  measures  of  barley,  and  then  laid  it  on  her  back  or  her  head.  Veils  are 
still  used  thus  by  the  women  of  Bethlehem,  though  the  ends  are  gaudy 
enough  with  colored  silk  to  keep  it,  when  new,  from  such  humble  service. 
The  whole  fortune  of  a  maiden  or  matron  alike  is  often  sewed  on  a  head¬ 
dress,  or  hung  round  her  neck,  and  not  a  few  women  have  been  murdered 
in  past  days  for  the  sake  of  the  wealth  thus  changed,  in  the  strictest  sense, 
into  vanity.  The  men,  though  Christians,  generally  wear  the  turban;  not  a 
few,  however,  having  only  the  red  Turkish  fez;  a  striped,  wide-sleeved 
dressing  gown  of  bright  colored  cotton  being  thrown  over  the  white  or  col¬ 
ored  under-shirt.” 

The  houses  of  Bethlehem  are  flat-roofed,  of  course,  and  are  built  of 


134 


BETHLEHEM 


yellow  stone.  The  filth  in  the  streets  is  as  repulsive  as  in  other  eastern 
cities.  Water,  indeed,  is  almost  a  luxury,  for  the  only  supply  is  obtained 
from  cisterns.  If  David’s  well  at  the  gate  was  a  spring,  as  we  have  reason 
to  believe,  it  has  either  ceased  to  flow  freely,  or  the  stream  escapes  through 
the  rock  underground.  The  terraced  orchards  and  gardens  still  hang  on 
the  steep  sides  of  the  hills  on  which  Bethlehem  stands;  the  neighboring 


.' ,  T'  ’r' 
<  e.-»v 


SHRINE  OF  THE  NATIVITY 

plains  are  still  plains  of  shepherds,  who  watch  their  flocks  by  night,  as  of 
old,  wrapped  in  their  sheepskin  coats;  in  the  eastward  plain  are  still  the 
lands  that  once  belonged  to  Boaz  and  Jesse;  and  beyond  the  shimmering 
waters  of  the  Dead  Sea  still  rise  the  frowning  purple  mountains  of  Moab. 

But  to  Christian  eyes  the  great  Church  of  St.  Mary,  which  marks  the 
place  of  Christ’s  nativity,  surpasses  all  else.  It  is  a  grand  building,  grand 
and  simple,  grand  because  of  the  simplicity  which  attests  its  antiquity, 
surrounded  by  fortress-like  convents  of  Greek,  Latin  and  Armenian 


BETHLEHEM. 


135 


Christians,  who,  beside  the  cradle  of  their  Lord,  exhibit  the  spectacle 
of  their  divisions.  This  venerable  building  appears  to  be  the  very  church 
reared  by  the  Emperor  Constantine  in  330.  In  1010,  it  is  said  to  have 
miraculously  escaped  destruction  by  the  Moslems,  so  that  the  Franks, 
whose  aid  had  been  invoked  by  the  Christians  of  Bethlehem,  found,  on 
going  to  their  succor,  that  the  church  was  all  uninjured.  On  Christmas 
day,  1101,  Baldwin  was  crowned  King  of  Jerusalem  in  this  same  church, 
and  in  mo  Bethlehem  was  made  an  episcopal  see  with  this  church  as  its 
cathedral.  After  many  repairs  and  restorations  it  remains  substantially 
the  same  edifice,  and  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  very  oldest  monuments 
of  Christian  architecture  in  the  world.  It  is  now  in  the  joint  possession 
of  the  Greeks,  Latins  and  Armenians.  The  Greek  baptismal  font  has  a 
touching  inscription:  “A  Memorial  before  God,  for  the  Forgiveness  of 
those  whom  the  Lord  Knows.”  Under  the  church  is  the  cave  of  the 
Nativity.  Its  dimensions  are  forty  by  sixteen  feet;  its  height  is  only  ten 
feet.  It  is  lighted  by  huge  candles  standing  in  enormous  candlesticks. 
Within  the  cave  is  the  Shrine  of  the  Nativity,  lighted,  day  and  night,  by 
fifteen  lamps;  and  in  the  center  of  its  floor  a  single  silver  star  bears  the 
inscription,  “Hie  de  Virgine  Maria  Jesus  Christus  Natus  est” — “ Here  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  Jesus  Christ  was  born!” 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


Hebron  or  Juttah  the  Probable  Home  of  Zachariah  and  Elizabeth — Hebron,  the  Oldest  City  in  the 
World — Older  than  Zoan— Belonged  to  the  Hittites — Also  called  Mamre  and  Kirjath-Arba — Pur¬ 
chase  of  the  Cave  of  Machpelah — Burial  of  the  Patriarchs — The  Inheritance  of  Caleb — The 
Gigantic  Anakim — Rabbinical  Tales — Og,  King  of  Bashan  and  his  Wonderful  Stature — The 
Stature  of  Abraham  and  Moses — Experience  of  Rabbi  Jochanan — Hebron,  a  Priestly  City  and  a 
City  of  Refuge — Murder  of  Abner — Reign  of  David  and  Rebellion  of  Absalom — Later  History — 
El  Khalil — Vineyards — Honey — Abraham’s  Oak — Village  of  the  Virgin — Modern  Hebron — Its 
Trade,  Streets,  Shops — Politeness  of  the  Inhabitants— The  Great  Mosque — Tomb  of  the  Patri¬ 
archs  Described  by  Stanley — The  Pool  of  Hebron — Beersheba — Origin  of  the  Name — Historical 
Associations  with  Abraham,  Hagar,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Samuel,  Elijah — The  Juniper  Tree — 
Zibiah,  Wife  of  Jehoash  and  Mother  of  Joash — Wells  of  Abraham — Position  of  the  Jews  in 
Egypt — The  Septuagint — Jewish  Ethnarch — The  Jewish  Trade  Guilds — Duration  of  the  Sojourn 
in  Egypt — Death  of  Herod — His  Burial  in  the  Herodium. 


F  THE  particulars  of  the  flight 
of  the  Holy  Family  from  Beth¬ 
lehem  to  Egypt,  in  their  haste 
to  escape  the  murderous 
scheme  of  Herod,  we  have  no 
account  in  the  gospels;  yet  we 
know  its  direction,  and  it  is 
possible  to  imagine  some  of  its 
incidents. 

Their  journey  must,  of  course, 
roof  of  mosque  at  hebron.  have  been  to  the  southward, 

and  their  first  halt  would  be  made  at  the  ancient  city  of  Hebron,  which  is 
about  seventeen  miles  southeast  of  Jerusalem,  and  only  twelve  miles  from 
Bethlehem.  This  would  be  their  most  direct  route,  and  besides,  it  would 
bring  them  to  the  home  of  their  kinsfolk,  of  the  family  of  Zachariah  and 
Elizabeth.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  Hebron  was  the  usual  home  of 
Zachariah,  for  it  was  a  city  of  the  priests,  and  was  in  “the  hill  country  of 
Judah,”  Hebron  being  3,500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  There  or  at 
Juttah,  which  is  five  or  six  miles  to  the  southeast  of  Hebron,  the  family  of 
the  Baptist  lived,  and  if  at  Hebron,  then  the  Greatest  of  the  Prophets, 


136 


HALT  IN  THE  DESERT 


\ 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO 


09 


and  the  Christ  of  whom  he  was  the  forerunner,  probably  met  as  infants  of 
two  year’s  old  or  less  at  this  time.  We  may  willingly  assume  that  they  met 
at  Hebron;  for  Hebron  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  places 
in  sacred  history.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  in  the  whole  world. 
We  learn  (Num.  xiii :  22),  that  it  was  built  seven  years  earlier  than  Zoan.  in 
Egypt,  a  city  which  has  for  ages  lain  in  ruins,  and  which  is  even  now  yield¬ 
ing  to  the  search  of  scientific  men  many  strong  confirmations  of  the  histori¬ 
cal  truth  of  certain  parts  of  the  sacred  record.  When  we  first  hear  of 
Hebron,  it  was  a  chief  city  of  the  great  nation  or  confederation  of  the  Hit- 
tites,  or  children  of  Heth.  At  the  time  when  God  promised  (Gen.  xv.20) 
to  give  the  land  to  the  seed  of  Abraham,  the  Hittites  were  a  great  power, 
having  one  capital  at  Kadesh,  another  called  Carchemish,  on  the  Euphrates, 
and  a  third  at  Hebron.  At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Moses  they  were  de¬ 
feated  by  Thothmes  III,  of  Egypt;  and  Rameses  II,  who  was  the  Pharoah 
of  the  oppression,  is  said  in  an  ancient  monument  to  “have  broken  the  back 
of  the  Hittites  for  ever  and  ever.”  When  Abraham  went  into  the  land  of 
the  children  of  Heth,  they  were  still  in  undisputed  possession,  and  the  father 
of  the  people  which  was  to  possess  it  after  them  was  obliged  to  purchase 
from  them  a  place  in  which  to  bury  his  dead.  Hebron  was  then  called 
Mamre  (Gen.  xiii:  18),  and  also  Kirjath-Arba  (Gen.  xxiii:2),  or  the  city  of 
Arba  (Josh,  xxi:  1 1),  from  Arba,  father  of  Anak,  by  whom  it  may  have  been 
founded.  Thither  Abraham  went  (Gen.  xiii :  18) ;  and  there  he  sojourned 
as  a  stranger  for  many  years;  there  he  received  the  promise  of  the  birth  of 
Isaac  (Gen.  xviii:i-io);  there,  too,  he  lost  his  wife  Sarah  (Gen.  xxiiim); 
and  it  was  for  the  burial  of  Sarah  that  he  was  obliged  to  purchase  the  cave 
of  Machpelah.  The  story  of  that  transaction  (Gen.  xxiii:3-2o)  is  thoroughly 
oriental,  full  of  the  ceremonious  formalities  which  are  still  deemed  necessary 
in  all  transactions  at  the  East.  The  mourning  of  the  East  admits  of  no  pri¬ 
vacy,  and  as  Abraham  was  a  sheikh  of  consequence,  his  mourning  was  sure 
to  be  interrupted  by  many  visits  of  condolence.  But  the  climate  forbade 
delay  in  preparing  for  the  burial  of  his  dead,  and  he  proceeded,  with  all 
ceremony,  to  negotiate  with  the  Hittites  for  the  purchase  of  a  sepulcher. 
He  stood  up  before  them,  and,  as  a  stranger  who  had  no  claims  upon  them, 
he  asked  of  them  to  give  him  a  place  of  burial.  With  all  their  kindly  com¬ 
passion,  the  Hittites  had  a  keen  eye  to  business,  and  doubtless  saw  here  an 


140 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


opportunity  for  a  good  bargain,  but  they  could  not  think  of  putting  it  in 
that  way  to  Abraham.  Affecting  the  noblest  generosity  and  using  the  most 
flattering  terms  of  courtesy,  they  bade  him  choose  among  all  their  sepul¬ 
chers;  the  mighty  prince  had  only  to  make  his  choice;  no  one  would  refuse 
him.  Abraham  acknowledged  their  courtesy  by  standing  up  and  bowing 
himself  before  them,  but  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  their  offer  meant  noth- 


THE  WARNING  TO  JOSEPH.  ( MATT.  Ill  1 3). 


ing  more  than  that  they  were  ready  to  sell  him  a  tomb  at  a  good  round 
price.  To  come  somewhat  closer  to  the  point,  custom  next  required  that 
some  one  should  act  as  a  middle-man  in  the  purchase  proposed;  and  Abra¬ 
ham  begged  the  good  offices  of  his  visitors  in  conducting  the  negotiation 
with  the  owner  of  the  cave  which  he  desired  to  secure.  To  that  end  he 
communed  with  them,  saying,  “If  it  be  your  mind  that  I  should  bury  my 
dead  out  of  sight,  hear  me  and  intreat  for  me  to  Ephron,  the  son  of  Zohar, 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


141 

that  he  may  give  me  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  which  he  hath,  which  is  in  the 
end  of  his  field;  for  as  much  money  as  it  is  worth  he  shall  give  it  to  me,  for 
a  possession  of  a  burying  place  amongst  you.”  Of  the  talk  between  Ephron 
and  the  intervenors  we  have  no  account,  but  Ephron  could  not  consent  to 
appear  less  nobly  disinterested  than  all  the  Hittites  had  affected  to  be. 
“Nay,  my  lord,”  he  said,  in  the  audience  of  all  that  went  in  at  the  gate  of 
the  city,  “Nay,  my  lord,  hear  me.  The  field  give  I  thee,  and  the  cave  that 
is  therein.  I  give  it  thee;  in  the  presence  of  the  sons  of  my  people  give  I 
it  thee;  bury  thy  dead.”  This  generous  offer  merely  signified  that  the 
courteous  Ephron  was  ready  to  make  a  bargain  for  the  sale,  and  so  Abra¬ 
ham  understood  him.  If  Ephron  was  so  kind'  as  to  give  him  the  field,  he 
said,  then  let  him  take  money  for  it,  and  so  let  Abraham  bury  his  dead. 
Ephron,  however,  would  not  hear  of  such  a  thing;  the  land  was  of  little 
value,  only  some  four  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and  what  was  that  between 
Abraham  and  Ephron?  It  was  probably  a  good  high  price  for  the  property; 
but  Abraham  had  now  learned  all  that  he  wanted  to  know,  namely,  that 
Ephron  would  sell  the  field,  and  that  his  price  was  four  hundred  shekels  of 
silver.  So,  without  haggling,  he  weighed  out  that  sum,  “current  money 
with  the  merchant;”  and  the  field  and  the  cave,  and  all  belonging  thereto, 
were  confirmed  to  Abraham  for  a  possession  of  a  burying  place  in  due  and 
legal  form,  that  is  to  say,  publicly,  in  the  presence  of  all  that  entered  in  at 
the  gate  of  Hebron. 

In  due  time  the  hoary  patriarch  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  same  cave,  by 
the  hands  of  his  two  sons  Ishmael  and  Isaac  (Gen.  xxv:  9).  Many  years 
afterward  Jacob  was  on  his  way  to  his  father  Isaac,  at  Hebron,  when  he 
lost  Rachel  and  buried  her  in  her  lonely  tomb  “in  the  way  to  Ephrath, 
which  is  Bethlehem”  (Gen.  xxxv:  19).  Not  much  later  he  and  his  brother 
Esau  buried  Isaac  beside  Abraham  and  Sarah  (Gen.  xxxv:  27-29).  From 
Hebron  Jacob  sent  Joseph  to  visit  his  brethren  at  Shechem,  where  they 
had  driven  their  flocks  for  pasturage,  sixty  miles  off  (Gen.  xxxvii:  14).  It 
was  from  Hebron  that  he  went  down  to  Egypt  to  meet  Joseph,  who  had  so 
strangely  become  a  great  prince  in  that  foreign  land;  and  it  was  to  Hebron 
and  the  cave  of  Machpelah  that  Joseph  brought  his  father’s  remains,  with 
so  great  a  company  and  so  magnificent  a  funeral,  that  the  Hittites  were 
astonished  at  the  mourning  of  the  Egyptians  (Gen.  1:  7-13). 


142 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


When  the  time  came  for  Israel  to  take  possession  of  the  land  in  which 
their  fathers  had  dwelt  as  strangers,  the  King  of  Hebron  entered  into  a 
fatal  confederacy  with  other  petty  sovereigns  against  Joshua,  was  taken 
prisoner  with  them,  and  was  put  to  death.  When  the  war  of  the  conquest 
was  drawing  to  a  close,  Hebron,  though  still  held  by  Anakim,  was  given  by 
Joshua  to  Caleb,  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  ‘‘because  that  he  wholly  followed 


the  Lord  God  of  Israel”  (Josh,  xiv.6-14).  The  gallant  old  man,  who  had 
been  a  faithful  spy,  and  who,  besides  Joshua  himself,  was  the  only  man  of 
the  former  generation  whom  God  permitted  to  enter  the  Promised  Land,  had 
no  mind  to  take  possession  of  a  place  from  which  the  enemy  had  been 
already  driven.  Hebron  was  a  strongly  fortified  city  and  was  still  held  by 
the  terrible  Anakim;  but  Caleb  at  eighty  years  of  age  had  a  strength 
of  soul  and  body  which  a  young  man  might  have  envied,  and  he  asked 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


M3 


to  have  the  unconquerecl  Hebron  for  his  heritage.  When  it  was  given 
him,  he  took  it  and  destroyed  the  remnant  of  the  gigantic  Anakim 
(Josh,  xv:  13,  14.) 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  about  these  giants.  Possibly  they  were  of 
a  race  of  unusual  stature,  which  tradition  subsequently  magnified,  as 
national  tradition  is  apt  to  magnify  the  facts  and  events  of  early  history. 
Everywhere  throughout  the  East  there  are  traditions  of  gigantic  men  of 
former  ages.  In  the  Bible  we  read  of  giants  before  the  flood  (Gen.  vi:  4), 
and  when  the  spies  came  back  from  searching  the  Promised  Land,  and 
reported  that  they  had  found  giants  there,  it  is  very  likely  that  the  unwar¬ 
like  multitude  of  fugitives  from  Egypt  would  imagine  the  giants  of 
Canaan  to  be  such  monstrous  giants  as  they  had  already  heard  of.  The 
language  of  the  spies  would  almost  admit  of  such  an  interpretation;  “all 
the  people,”  they  said,  “that  we  saw  in  the  land  are  men  of  great  stature; 
and  there  we  saw  the  giants,  the  sons  of  Anak,  which  come  of  the 
giants;  and  we  were  in  our  own  sight  as  grasshoppers,  and  so  we  were  in 
their  sight”  (Num.xiii:  33).  But  the  wildest  imaginations  of  that  time 
were  as  nothing  to  the  rabbinical  tales  of  after  times.  According  to 
them,  Og,  the  King  of  Bashan,  was  an  antediluvian  giant  of  such  height 
that  the  water  of  the  flood  rose  only  to  his  ankles!  Og,  therefore,  sur¬ 
vived  the  flood,  and  reappears  in  rabbinical  history  as  Eliezer  of  Damas¬ 
cus,  the  servant  of  Abraham.  Compared  with  Og,  Abraham  was  a 
pigmy,  since  the  patriarch  was  only  about  three  hundred  feet  high;  but 
Og  was  terribly  afraid  of  his  master;  and  on  one  occasion  trembled  so 
violently  at  a  rebuke  from  him  as  to  shake  out  one  of  his  own  teeth.  The 
tooth,  however,  was  not  lost,  for  Abraham  immediately  converted  it  into  a 
comfortable  and  commodious  bedstead!  Compared  with  Abraham,  again, 
Moses  was  a  dwarf,  being  only  between  thirty  and  forty  feet  high;  and  in 
a  battle  with  Og  Moses  made  a  prodigious  leap  to  strike  the  giant,  but  his 
blow,  though  it  proved  ultimately  fatal,  only  reached  Og’s  ankle.  These 
stories  are  not  to  be  rashly  rejected  as  unworthy  of  credit  in  this  unbeliev¬ 
ing  age.  They  are  substantially  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  the 
Rabbi  Jochanan,  whom  Dr.  Thomson  quotes  as  follows:  “Once,  when  I 
was  chasing  a  roe,  it  fled  into  a  shin-bone.  I  ran  after  it  and  followed  it 
for  three  miles,  but  could  neither  overtake  it  nor  see  any  end  to  the  bone; 


144 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


so  I  returned,  and  was  told  that  this  was  the  shin-bone  of  Og,  King  of 
Bashan!’’  In  comparison  with  such  fables,  the  Bible  accounts,  which 
give  no  measurements,  are  tame  indeed;  but  if  such  stories  were  abroad 
among  the  Israelites  at  the  time  of  Moses,  perhaps  it  is  not  strange  that  a 
horde  of  fugitive  slaves  should  have  shrunk  from  encountering  the  mon¬ 
strous  giants  of  oriental  imagination. 


SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  INNOCENTS.  (MATT.  IK  1 6- 1 8. 

Though  the  lands  of  Hebron  were  given  to  Caleb  and  his  children,  the 
city  itself  was  made  a  heritage  of  the  priests  of  Israel  (Josh,  xxi:  1 1),  and 
was,  therefore,  probably  the  home  of  Zachariah.  It  was  also  made  one  of 
the  cities  of  refuge,  to  which  the  involuntary  slayer  of  a  man  might  escape 
from  the  avenger  of  blood  (Josh,  xx:  7).  It  was  well  known  to  the  gro¬ 
tesque  hero,  Samson;  and  it  was  to  a  hill  before  (or,  perhaps,  on  the  road 
to)  Hebron,  that  he  carried  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  (Judges  xvi:  3). 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


05 

Later  on,  Hebron  was  a  favorite  haunt  of  David,  during  his  persecu¬ 
tion  by  Saul  (i  Sam.  xxx:  31).  Here  he  was  among  his  own  people,  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  and  many  whom  he  had  conciliated  by  gifts  and  favors  (1 
Sam.  xxx:  26-31).  It  was  here  that  Abner,  coming  to  make  terms  with  him, 
was  treacherously  murdered  by  Joab  (2  Sam.  iii:  17-27).  Here  David  was 
anointed  king  over  Judah,  and  lived  as  king  of  Judah  for  seven  and  a  half 
peaceful  years  (2  Sam.  ii:  4-1 1).  Here  many  of  his  children  were  born 
(2  Sam.  iii:  2-5),  and  here,  doubtless,  many  of  his  psalms  were  written, 
especially  that  glorious  psalm  of  kingly  triumph,  the  eighteenth.  Here,  too, 
after  the  death  of  Saul,  he  was  anointed  king  over  united  Israel  (2  Sam. 
v:  3;  1  Chron.  xi:  1-3);  but  Hebron  was  at  at  last  to  have  sorrowful  associa¬ 
tions  for  David,  for  it  was  at  Hebron  that  Absalom  raised  the  standard  of 
unfilial  revolt  (2  Sam.  xv:  7-10). 

Since  the  time  of  David,  Hebron  has  had  the  checkered  history  of  all 
the  cities  of  that  marvelous  land.  It  was  fortified  by  Rehoboam  (2  Chron. 
xi:  10);  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Bethlehem  and  other  cities,  which  he  sought 
to  defend,  its  fortifications  invited  attack.  After  the  captivity,  it  was 
rebuilt.  It  was  subsequently  taken  by  the  Idumeans,  but  was  recaptured 
by  Judas  Maccabeus.  From  that  time  on  it  was  in  peace,  until  the  great 
revolt  in  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  when  it  was  burnt  to  ashes.  In  the  eighth 
century  of  the  Christian  era,  it  had  been  rebuilt,  and  was  known  as  the 
Castle  of  Abraham.  In  the  crusades,  it  was  taken  by  the  Christians,  and 
became  the  see  of  a  bishop,  with  a  church,  which  is  now  a  mosque.  In 
1834,  during  a  revolt  against  Ibrahim  Pasha,  the  insurgents,  being  defeated 
at  Solomon’s  Pools,  a  few  miles  south  of  Jerusalem,  took  refuge  in  Hebron, 
and  the  hapless  city  was  forthwith  stormed  and  sacked. 

Hebron  is  now  called  by  the  Moslems,  El  Khalil,  or,  The  Friend,  in 
honor  of  Abraham,  “the  friend  of  God”  (James  ii:  23).  It  has  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  17,000  or  18,000.  As  of  old.it  is  surrounded  by  vineyards.  In 
ancient  times,  the  grapes  were,  perhaps,  mostly  red;  at  present  they  are 
mostly  white.  They  yield  a  good  wine;  and  the  juice,  when  boiled  down 
to  one-third  of  its  bulk,  becomes  a  syrup,  which  in  scripture  is  called  honey. 
The  honey,  dibash ,  which  Jacob  sent  down,  among  his  other  presents  to  his 
unknown  son  in  Egypt  (Gen.  xliii:  11)  was  very  likely  not  the  honey  of 
bees,  but  some  of  the  dibs ,  or  grape  syrup,  which  is  still  made  at  Hebron, 


146 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


and  diluted  with  water  it  would  make  a  refreshing  drink  in  the  hot  summer 
of  Egypt.  Part  of  Hebron  is  called  Esh-colah,  and  a  small  stream  in  the 
neighborhood  is  called  Wady  Esh-col;  but  this  can  hardly  be  the  Esh-col 
from  which  the  spies  of  Moses  carried  their  wonderful  specimens  of  the 
fruitfulness  of  the  promised  land  (Num.  xiii:  23,  24).  The  name  most 
likely  comes  from  Esh-col,  the  brother  of  Mamre;  and  as  Mamre  undoubt¬ 
edly  gave  his  own  name  to  Hebron,  it  is  plausibly  suggested  that  his 


HEBRON. 


brother  Esh-col  may  have  given  his  name  likewise  to  a  neighboring  spot 
(Gen.  xiv:  13,  24;  xiii:  14).  A  mile  from  the  city,  in  front  of  the  Russian 
hospice,  stands  an  ancient  tree,  which  is  called  Abraham’s  Oak,  and  is  said 
to  be  the  veritable  oak  or  terebinth  (otherwise  rendered  “the  plain”),  of 
Mamre,  beside  which  Abraham  had  his  dwelling  for  so  many  years.  The 
tree  is  a  noble  one,  and  must  be  centuries  old;  but  the  acorn  from  which  it 
grew  did  not  fall  for  many  centuries  after  Abraham  was  laid  in  the  cave 
of  Machpelah.  Some  years  ago  a  branch  of  this  oak,  or  terebinth,  fell, 
and  the  wood  was  used  in  making  rosaries,  crosses  and  the  like,  for  sale  to 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


147 


pilgrims.  Of  course  it  was  soon  consumed,  as  these  souvenirs,  or  memen¬ 
tos,  were  in  great  demand.  No  other  branch  has  fallen  since  that  time, 
and  yet,  strange  to  say,  the  traveler  will  have  no  difficulty  in  procuring  any 
number  of  articles,  made  from  the  genuine  wood  of  Abraham’s  Oak,  and  at 
very  reasonable  rates!  Near  by  Hebron  is  a  village  called  the  Village  of 
the  Virgin,  where  the  Holy  Family  is  said  to  have  halted  on  the  journey  to 
Egypt. 

Within  the  city  there  is  considerable  trade  and  some  manufacture, 
principally  of  colored  glass  ornaments  and  leathern  water  bottles,  which 
find  a  ready  sale  to  caravans  passing  through  Hebron  on  their  way  to  and 
from  Egypt.  The  houses  are  of  stone,  and  as  they  rise,  one  above  another, 
on  the  slopes  of  the  hill,  they  present  a  striking  and  noble  appearance.  The 
impression  is  changed,  however,  when  the  traveler  enters  the  city;  for  then 
he  finds  himself  in  the  midst  of  unspeakable  filth.  There  is  no  drainage, 
and  no  pavement,  and  the  streets,  as  they  are  called  only  by  courtesy,  are 
perennial  dunghills.  Many  of  them  are  arched  like  tunnels,  with  dwellings 
above  them,  which  are  approached  through  the  shops  below.  The  shops 
are  horrid  dens  of  darkness,  where  the  merchants  sit  cross-legged  behind 
counters  which  are  simply  stone  walls  of  several  feet  in  thickness.  The 
people  are  renowned  for  an  excessive  politeness  which  makes  the  purchase 
of  the  smallest  article  consume  almost  as  much  time  as  Abraham’s  purchase 
from  Ephron  long  ago. 

The  greatest  attraction  of  Hebron  is  the  fact  that  it  contains  the  tomb 
of  the  three  patriarchs,  and  that  there  is  no  question  of  its  true  site.  The 
cave  of  Machpelah  is  enclosed  and  covered  by  a  great  mosque  which  the 
Moslems  hold  to  be  of  such  extraordinary  sacredness  that  they  permit  no 
Jewish  or  Christian  foot  to  enter  its  precincts.  During  the  present  century 
only  a  few  persons  of  royal  rank  have  been  permitted  by  special  firman 
from  the  Sultan  to  do  so.  Among  them  was  the  Prince  of  Wales,  attended, 
fortunately,  by  Dean  Stanley,  from  whom  an  account  of  part  of  their  visit  is 
taken.  “In  a  recess  on  the  right,”  says  the  Dean,  “is  the  shrine  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  on  the  left  that  of  Sarah,  each  guarded  by  silver  gates.  The  shrine 
of  Sarah  we  were  requested  not  to  enter,  as  being  that  of  a  woman.”  After 
some  hesitation,  and  not  without  a  prayer  to  the  patriarch  for  the  permis¬ 
sion  to  enter,  the  shrine  of  Abraham  was  thrown  open.  “The  chamber,” 


148 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


continues  the  Dean,  “is  cased  in  marble.  The  tomb  consists  of  a 
coffin-like  structure,  built  up  of  plastered  stone  or  marble,  and  hung 
with  three  carpets,  green,  embroidered  with  gold.  They  are  said  to 
have  been  presented  by  Mohammed  II.,  Selim  I.  and  the  late  Sul¬ 
tan,  Abd  el  Mejid.  Within  the  area  of  the  mosque  or  church  were 


MEETING  OF  MARY  AND  ELIZABETH.  (LUKE  i:  39). 

shown  the  tombs  of  Isaac  and  Rebekah.  They  are  placed  under  sepa¬ 
rate  chapels,  and  the  gates  are  grated,  not  with  silver,  but  iron  bars. 
To  Rebekah’s  tomb  the  same  decorous  rule  of  the  exclusion  of  male 
visitors  naturally  applied  as  in  the  case  of  Sarah’s.  But  on  requesting  to 
see  the  tomb  of  Isaac,  we  were  entreated  not  to  enter;  and  on  asking,  with 
some  surprise,  why  an  objection  which  had  been  conceded  for  Abraham 
should  be  raised  in  the  case  of  his  far  less  eminent  son,  we  were  answered 
that  the  difference  lay  in  the  character  of  the  two  patriarchs.  Abraham 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


149 


was  full  of  loving-kindness;  he  had  withstood  even  the  resolution  of  God 
against  Sodom  and  Gomorrah;  he  was  goodness  itself,  and  would  overlook 
any  affront.  But  Isaac  was  proverbially  jealous,  and  it  was  exceedingly 
dangerous  to  exasperate  him.  When  Ibrahim  Pasha,  as  conqueror  of  Pal¬ 
estine,  had  endeavored  to  enter  he  had  been  driven  out  by  Isaac,  and  fell 
back  as  if  thunderstruck. 

“The  shrines  of  Jacob  and  Leah  were  shown  in  recesses  similar  to  those 
of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  but  in  a  separate  cloister,  opposite  the  entrance  of 
the  mosque.  Against  Leah’s  tomb,  as  seen  through  the  iron  gate,  two 
green  banners  reclined,  the  origin  and  meaning  of  which  were  unknown.” 
The  gates  of  Jacob’s  tomb  were  opened,  but  nothing  of  special  interest  was 
observed.  This  is  all  that  the  visit  of  these  distinguished  pilgrims  discov¬ 
ered  to  the  world,  and  it  is  of  little  value.  The  tombs  and  shrines  they  saw 
were  not  the  true  resting-places  of  the  patriarchs,  which  are  in  the  cave  be¬ 
neath.  The  time  will  come,  and  it  is  probably  not  far  off,  when  the  whole 
place  will  be  explored  and  fully  described.  In  the  meantime,  no  doubt 
whatever  exists  that  the  cave  of  Machpelah  is  indeed  under  the  great  mosque 
of  Hebron,  nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe  that  the  remains  of  those  who 
were  so  long  ago  buried  there  have  been  removed  or  disturbed. 

In  the  valley  below  Hebron  there  still  remains  a  spot  of  historical 
interest,  in  the  life  of  David,  to  which  no  reference  has  been  made.  When 
the  unhappy  Saul  had  fallen  before  the  victorious  Philistines,  on  the  moun¬ 
tain  of  Gilboa,  the  generous  David  had  no  revengeful  feelings  toward  the 
children  of  the  man  by  whom  he  had  been  persecuted  for  so  many  years. 
On  the  contrary,  he  pitied  them,  and  lamented  over  the  fate  of  Saul  him¬ 
self.  But  some  officious  sycophants  thought  to  win  the  favor  of  the  new 
sovereign  of  all  Israel  by  treacherously  murdering  Saul’s  offspring.  Two 
such  wretched  assassins,  servants  of  a  son  of  Saul  called  Ishbosheth,  en¬ 
tered  their  master’s  house  on  pretext  of  ordinary  business,  while  he  was 
resting  on  his  bed  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  stabbed  him  as  he  lay  there,  and 
brought  his  head  to  David.  But  they  found  no  favor  with  the  new  king, 
who  meted  out  to  them  the  just  reward  of  assassination.  We  are  told  that 
“David  commanded  his  young  men,  and  they  slew  them,  and  cut  off  their 
hands  and  their  feet,  and  hanged  them  up  over  the  pool  in  Hebron” 
(2  Sam.  iv:  12L  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  great  pool  which  is  still  to 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


150 

be  seen  in  the  valley  at  the  entrance  to  Hebron  is  the  pool  at  which  David, 
by  a  just  and  terrible  example,  cleared  himself  of  all  complicity  in  the 
cruel  and  cowardly  murder. 

On  leaving  Hebron,  the  Holy  Family  would  pursue  its  journey  south¬ 
ward  on  the  caravan  track,  to  Egypt,  and  a  day’s  march  would  bring  them 
to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  promised  land,  at  Beersheba,  or  Bir-es- 


THE  GRAPES  OF  ESHCOL.  (NUM.  XIII :  24). 

seba,  as  it  is  called  to  this  day.  Beersheba  is  a  spot  of  ancient  and  vener¬ 
able  associations.  Its  name  signifies,  “The  Well  of  the  Oath,”  or,  “The 
Well  of  the  Seven,”  and  originated  in  the  great  oath  of  amity,  which  Abra¬ 
ham  swore  to  King  Abimelech,  and  also,  perhaps,  refers  to  the  seven  wells, 
which  he  caused  to  be  dug  there,  and  typified  by  seven  ewe  lambs,  which 
he  gave  as  a  present  to  the  king  (Gen.  xxi:  22-32).  According  to  his 
pious  custom,  Abraham  planted  a  grove  at  Beersheba,  “and  called  on  the 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT.  I5I 

Name  of  the  Lord,  the  everlasting  God”  (Gen.  xxi:  33,  34).  It  was  into 
the  wilderness  of  Beersheba  that  Hagar  and  her  child  were  driven  by  the 
jealous  cruelty  of  Sarah  (Gen.  xxi:  14).  It  was  from  Beersheba  that 
Abraham  set  out  on  his  memorable  journey  to  offer  his  son  Isaac  as  a 
burnt  offering  to  God,  and  to  Beersheba  he  returned  again  from  Mount 
Moriah  (Gen.  xxii:  19).  Fifty  years  later  Isaac  went  to  the  same  place, 


abraham’s  oak  at  hebron. 

and  had  a  vision  of  peace,  after  which  he  built  an  altar  and  offered  sacri¬ 
fice  to  God  (Gen.  xxvi:  23-25);  and  again,  another  oath  made  to  another 
Abimelech,  after  the  digging  of  new  wells,  caused  the  old  name  to  be 
renewed  (Gen.  xxvi:  26-33).  At  Beersheba,  the  aged  Jacob  halted  with 
his  company,  when  on  his  way  to  join  Joseph  in  Egypt,  and  there  he,  too, 
offered  sacrifice,  and  was  comforted  with  gracious  promises  (Gen.  xlvi: 


152 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  LGYPT 


1-5).  In  after  ages,  Beersheba  became  the  southernmost  place  in  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  Israel,  as  Dan  was  the  northernmost,  so  that  “from  Dan  even  unto 
Beersheba”  was  a  proverbial  phrase,  signifying  the  whole  extent  of  the 
country  (Judg.  xx:  1).  In  the  days  of  Samuel,  Beersheba  must  have 

become  a  place  of  im¬ 
portance,  since  we  find 
that  two  of  his  evil  sons 
were  judges  there  (iSam. 
viii:  2).  In  the  time  of 
the  wicked  King  Ahab, 
when  Elijah,  after  his  tri¬ 
umph  over  the  priests  of 
Baal,  had  been  driven  out 
of  the  northern  kingdom 
by  the  furious  Jezebel, 
the  worn-out  prophet  fled 
to  Beersheba,  and  left 
his  servant  there,  while 
he  himself  went  into  the 
wilderness,  requesting  of 
God  that  he  might  die  (1 
Kings  xix:  1-4).  Our 
version  says  that  the 
prophet  sat  down  down 
under  a  juniper  tree,  but 
it  ought  to  be  a  broom 
tree.  Unfortunately,  the 
roots  of  that  tree  have 
been  found  to  make  the 
entrance  to  mosque  at  hebron.  very  best  quality  of  char¬ 

coal,  and  the  Arabs  have  done  their  best  to  extirpate  the  broom  trees  by  dig¬ 
ging  up  their  roots.  Nevertheless,  the  broom  tree  still  survives;  and  to-day, 
in  the  wilderness  south  of  Beersheba,  there  are  many  precisely  like  that  un¬ 
der  which  the  angel  found  the  wearied  prophet,  and  ministered  to  his  neces¬ 
sities,  so  that  he  slept  and  ate,  and  slept  and  ate  again,  and  then  was  sent 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


153 


on  an  errand,  which  proved  that  the  cause  of  God  was  not  so  hopeless  as 
the  prophet  had  supposed,  but  was  soon  to  be  vindicated  in  God’s  own 
time  and  in  God’s  own  way  (1  Kings  xix:  5-18).  By  and  by,  the  good 
King  Jehoash  took  to  wife  as  his  queen  a  maiden  of  Beersheba,  called 
Zibiah,  who  became  the  mother  of  the 
good  King  Joash;  a  good  father  and  a 
good  mother  being  followed  by  a 
good  son.  What  lessons  there  are 
written  all  along  these  by-places  of 
Scripture  history!  A  hundred  years 
later,  in  spite  of  all  lessons  and  all 
warning,  Beersheba  had  become  a  ^ 

O 

center  of  idolatry,  and  thither,  as  to  £ 

Bethel  and  Gilgal,  pilgrims  resorted  > 
even  from  the  northern  kingdom  £ 

(Amos  v:  4,  5  ;  viii:  14).  The  latter  his-  g 
tory  of  Beersheba  is  unimportant;  its 
name  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  New 
Testament;  and  yet,  it  can  never  be 
uninteresting  to  the  Christian,  not 
only  because  of  its  early  associations, 
but  for  the  certainty  that  it  must  have 
been  a  station  in  the  journey  of  the 
Infant  Saviour  to  Egypt. 

The  wells  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  or  two  of  them,  at  least,  are  there, 
though  their  walls  are  of  comparatively  modern  construction.  Dr.  Robin¬ 
son  says;  “The  larger  well  is  twelve  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  forty- 
four  and  a  half  feet  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  sixteen  feet  of  which,  at 
the  bottom,  is  excavated  out  of  the  solid  rock.  The  other  well  lies  fifty- 
five  rods  west-southwest,  and  is  five  feet  in  diameter  and  forty-two  feet 
deep,  The  water  in  both  is  sweet  and  pure,  and  in  great  abundance. 
Both  wells  are  surrounded  with  drinking-troughs  of  stone,  for  camels  and 
flocks,  such  as  were  doubtless  used  of  old  for  the  flocks  which  fed  on  the 
adjacent  hills.  The  curb-stones  are  deeply  worn  by  the  friction  of  the 
ropes  in  drawing  up  water  by  the  hand.” 


154 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT 


Beyond  Beersheba  we  need  not  attempt  to  trace  the  footsteps  of  the 
fugitives.  Two  days’  march  through  the  wilderness  of  Shur  would  bring 
them  to  the  “river  of  Egypt”  (Num.  xxxiv:  5).  Thence  they  may  have 
gone  to  Migdol,  “the  Tower”  which,  for  a  long  time,  was  the  frontier  for¬ 
tress  of  Egypt;  and  thence,  perhaps,  to  Tanis  or  Zoan,  where  God  had 
done  “marvelous  things”  by  the  hand  of  Moses,  His  servant  (Psalm 
Ixxviii:  12). 

The  place  where  the  Holy  Family  hid  itself  in  Egypt  is  altogether  un¬ 
known;  but  wherever  it  may  have  been,  Joseph  would  have  little  difficulty 

in  finding  helpful  friends. 
The  gifts  of  the  Wise  Men 
had  provided  the  “gold,” 
which  would  be  required  for 
their  journey.  Perhaps  it 
may  have  sufficed  for  their 
maintenance  also,  but  if  not, 
Egypt  was  full  of  Jews.  The 
Jewish  race  had  been  greatly 
favored  by  Alexander  the 
Great  at  his  conquest  of 
Egypt,  and  the  result  had 
been  a  large  immigration  of 
Jews  into  that  country.  In 
social  rank  Alexander  had 
put  them  on  a  level  with  his 
own  Macedonians;  and  al¬ 
though  they  were  afterward 
deprived  of  that  distinction,  and  even  became  odious  to  the  other  in¬ 
habitants,  they  continued  to  prosper,  and  to  form  a  large  and  important 
element  of  the  population.  It  was  in  Egypt  that  the  Greek  version  of 
the  Old  Testament,  called  the  Septuagint,  was  made,  by  learned  rabbis, 
probably  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  The  Jews  of  Alexandria 
were  under  ihe  control  of  an  ethnarch,  or  governor,  of  their  own  race;  and 
among  themselves  they  formed  guilds  or  unions  of  workmen  belonging  to 
different  trades  and  occupations,  each  of  which  was  bound  to  care  for 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


155 


Jewish  craftsmen  of  the  same  trade.  Through  one  of  these  guilds  Joseph, 
as  a  carpenter,  would  find  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  employment  until  the 
time  came  for  him  to  return  home. 

In  the  opinion  of  some,  the  sojourn  of  the  Holy  Family  in  Egypt  was 
extremely  short;  while,  according  to  others,  it  may  have  lasted  for  two  or 
three  years.  We  can  therefore  form  no  idea  of  the  impressions  received 
by  the  Child  Jesus  in  the  land  of  the  heathen.  If  He  was  yet  an  infant  in 
arms  at  the  time  of  the  flight,  and  if  the  return  took  place  within  a  few 
months,  no  impressions  then  received  could  in  any  way  affect  the  mental 
development  of  so  young  a  child;  but  if  He  was  nearly  two  years  old  at 
the  time  of  the  flight,  and  if  the  death  of  Herod  did  not  take  place  for  two 
more  years,  then  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  many  things  which  He  heard 
and  saw  may  have  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon  Him;  and 
what  would  be  even  more  significant,  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  Joseph, 
under  whose  instructions  and  influence  He  was  to  grow  up,  would  probably 
be  much  affected  and  influenced  by  what  they  saw  and  heard  during  a 
prolonged  residence  in  Egypt.  All  this,  however,  is  a  matter  of  mere  con¬ 
jecture,  and  it  would  be  useless  to  enlarge  upon  it.  Where  the  Script¬ 
ures  are  silent  we  may  be  content  to  follow  the  example  of  the  sacred 
writers. 

What  we  do  know  is  that  while  the  parents  of  Jesus  were  hiding  Him 
from  the  murderous  hand  of  Herod,  Herod  himself  was  drawing  to  the 
close  of  a  long  and  cruel  life.  Archdeacon  Farrar’s  account  of  Herod’s 
end  is  so  impressive  that  it  may  as  well  be  given  entire.  Lie  says: 

“It  must  have  been  very  shortly  after  the  murder  of  the  Innocents 
that  Herod  died.  Only  five  days  before  his  death  he  had  made  a  frantic 
attempt  at  suicide,  and  had  ordered  the  death  of  his  eldest  son  Antipater. 
His  deathbed  was  accompanied  by  circumstances  of  peculiar  horror,  and  it 
has  been  asserted  that  he  died  of  a  loathsome  disease  which  is  hardly 
mentioned  in  history,  except  in  the  case  of  men  who  have  been  rendered 
infamous  by  an  atrocity  of  persecuting  zeal.  On  his  bed  of  intolerable  an¬ 
guish,  in  that  splendid  and  luxurious  palace  which  he  had  built  for  himself 
under  the  palms  of  Jericho,  swollen  with  disease  and  scorched  by  thirst — 
ulcerated  externally  and  glowing  inwardly  with  ‘a  soft,  slow  fire’ — sur¬ 
rounded  by  plotting  sons  and  plundering  slaves,  detesting  all  and  detested 


i56  THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 

by  all — longing  for  death  as  a  release  from  his  tortures,  yet  dreading  it  as 
the  beginning  of  worse  terrors — stung  by  remorse,  yet  still  unslaked  with 
murder — a  horror  to  all  around  him,  yet  in  his  guilty  conscience  a  worse 
terror  to  himself— devoured  by  the  premature  corruption  of  an  anticipated 
grave— eaten  of  worms  as  though  visibly  smitten  by  the  finger  of  God’s 


HAGAR  AND  ISHMAEL  DISMISSED.  (GEN.  XXI!  I4). 

wrath,  after  seventy  years  of  successful  villainy — the  wretched  old  man 
whom  men  had  called  ‘the  Great’,  lay,  in  savage  frenzy,  awaiting  his  last 
hour.  As  he  knew  that  none  would  shed  one  tear  for  him,  he  determined 
that  they  should  shed  many  for  themselves,  and  issued  an  order  that, 
under  pain  of  death,  the  principal  families  in  the  kingdom  and  chiefs  of 
the  tribes  should  come  to  Jericho.  They  came,  and  then,  shutting  them 
in  the  Hippodrome,  he  secretly  commanded  his  sister  Salome  that  at  the 
moment  of  his  death  they  should  all  be  massacred.  And  so,  choking  as  it 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 


157 


were  with  blood,  devising  massacres  in  his  very  delirium,  the  soul  of  Herod 
passed  forth  into  the  night.  In  purple  robes,  with  crown  and  scepter  and 
precious  stones,  the  corpse  was  placed  upon  its  splendid  bier  and  was  ac¬ 
companied  with  military  pomp  and  burning  incense  to  its  grave  in  the 
Herodium,  not  far  from  the  place  where  Christ  was  born.” 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 

Accession  of  Archelaus — His  Barbarity — Herod  Antipas  Rules  in  Galilee — The  Route  to  Nazareth 
Through  Philistia — Origin  of  the  Philistines — They  Give  Name  to  Palestine — Their  Confederacy 
— Conquests  of  Joshua — Chariots  and  Giants  of  the  Philistines — Border  Warfare — Samson — 
Spread  of  the  Philistines  Northward — Gaza— Present  Condition — History — Death  of  Samson — 
Alexander — Napoleon— Ibrahim  Pasha — Ashkelon— Derketo,  the  Philistine  Venus— Her  Daughter 
Semiramis — Birthplace  of  Herod  the  Great — Later  History — Ashdod,  the  Azotus  of  the  New 
Testament — Baptism  of  the  Eunuch — Gath— Birthplace  of  Goliath — Vale  of  Elah — David’s 
Sling — Cave  of  Adullam — Beth  Dagon — The  Ark  of  God  in  Philistia — Its  Return  to  Israel — 
Beelzebub — Samson  and  the  Foxes — The  Plain  of  Sharon — The  Rose  of  Sharon  and  the  Lily  of 
the  Valley — Caesarea,  the  Seaport  of  Herod — Home  of  Philip,  the  Deacon — Visited  by  St.  Paul — 
Death  of  Herod  Agrippa — Paul  before  Felix — The  Appeal  to  Caesar-^Origen  and  Procopius  at 
Caesarea — Carmel,  the  Well-Wooded  Park— Its  Trees  and  Flowers — Its  Present  Desolation— An 
Ancient  Sanctuary  -Visited  by  Pythagoras— The  Mysterious  Sacrifice  of  Vespasian — Monks  of 
Carmel— Convent  of  Mar  Elyas — View  from  the  Convent — Cave  and  Garden  of  Elijah — El  Ma- 
harrakah — Slaughter  of  the  Priests  of  Baal — The  Cloud  Like  a  Man's  Hand  and  the  Coming  of 
the  Storm — Elijah’s  Fiery  Vengeance — The  Mildness  of  Christ — Elisha — The  Child  of  the  Shune- 
mite— Cave  of  the  School  of  the  Prophets. 

E  news  of  Herod’s  death  would  soon 
spread  into  Egypt.  The  report  of  it 
reached  Joseph  by  an  angelic  commu 
nication,  aud  he  immediately  set  out  on 
his  return,  with  the  intention,  as  it  ap¬ 
pears,  of  going  back  to  Bethlehem. 
Eastern  people  do  not  readily  change 
their  abode;  and  having  been  obliged  to 
leave  Nazareth  on  account  of  the  enroll¬ 
ment  at  Bethlehem,  it  is  probable  that 
Joseph  had  there  found  sufficient  em¬ 
ployment  to  warrant  his  settling  perma¬ 
nently  in  the  city  of  his  forefathers.  If  so,  he  would  naturally  think  of 
returning  to  Bethlehem,  rather  than  to  Nazareth,  which  was  eighty  miles 
further  off.  But  when  he  reached  the  border  of  Judea,  he  heard  news 
which  alarmed  him,  The  tiger,  Herod,  had  been  succeeded  by  a  true  cub 

of  his  own  breed.  In  his  will  he  had  assigned  the  kingdom  of  Judea  to  his 

158 


FOUNTAIN  OF  MARY  AT  NAZARETH. 


PROMONTORY  OF  CARMEL,  LOOKING 
(HAIFA  ON  THE  SHORE.) 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


161 


son  Archelaus,  who  had  celebrated  his  accession,  even  before  his  father’s 
will  had  been  ratified  at  Rome,  by  the  massacre  of  some  three  thousand 
of  his  unhappy  subjects  in  the  very  temple  itself.  That  such  a  monster 
would  forget  or  fail  to  follow  up  the  suspicions  which  had  been  aroused  in 
his  father’s  mind,  on  the  announcement  by  the  Wise  Men  of  the  birth  of  a 
true  king  of  the  Jews,  was  not  to  be  expected;  but  Antipas,  a  less  bloody 
son  of  the  same  father,  now  reigned  in  Galilee;  and  Joseph  thought  it  pru¬ 
dent  to  turn  aside  from  his  contemplated  route  and  to  go  to  his  old  home 
at  Nazareth.  His  course  would  now  lie,  not  through  Hebron,  but  through 
the  plains  of  Philistia  and  Sharon,  which  line  the  sea  shore  of  the  Holy 
Land,  and  thence  over  the  hills  into  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  to  the  north 
of  which  was  Nazareth. 

Little,  if  any  of  our  Saviour’s  life  was  spent  in  the  plains  which  border 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Once  indeed,  we  know  that  He  “came  into  the  coasts 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon”  (Matt.,  xv:2i;  Mark  vii:24),  but  we  do  not  know  that 
He  ever  visited  the  Plain  of  Philistia  or  the  Plain  of  Sharon  in  the  whole 
course  of  His  ministry.  The  only  time  when  he  must  almost  certainly 
have  passed  through  those  most  interesting  parts  of  the  Beautiful  Land 
was  in  the  return  of  the  Holy  Family  from  Egypt  to  Nazareth.  No  view 
of  Palestine  could  be  considered  satisfactory  which  should  omit  these  cele¬ 
brated  plains.  We  shall,  therefore,  here  take  a  rapid  glance  at  them  from 
south  to  north,  before  proceeding  to  trace  the  more  certain  footsteps  of 
the  Saviour  as  recorded  in  the  Gospels. 

Passing  the  southern  border,  the  Holy  Family  would  enter  the  Plain 
of  Philistia. 

The  name  of  the  Philistines  signifies  foreigners ,  and  shows  that  the 
people  who  bore  it  were  not  the  original  inhabitants  of  Canaan,  nor  even 
of  Philistia.  They  are  said  (Amos  ix:  7)  to  have  come  from  Caphtor, 
that  is,  in  all  probability,  from  Crete,  though  there  are  strong  reasons  for 
believing  that  they  must  have  been  settled  for  some  time  in  Egypt,  before 
they  conquered  the  Avim,  who  formerly  inhabited  the  villages  of  Philistia 
(Deut.  ii:  23).  It  is  singular  indeed  that  these  foreigners,  who  never  occu¬ 
pied  more  than  a  small  part  of  the  country,  should  have  given  the  name 
of  Palestine  to  the  whole  of  it.  Such  remnants  of  their  language  as  have 
been  preserved  show  them  to  have  been  of  the  race  of  Shem.  1  hey  were 


162 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


a  brave  and  warlike  people,  skilled  in  the  use  of  war  chariots,  with  which 
the  Israelites  were  unable  to  contend  (Judg.  i:  19).  They  were  also 
devoted  to  commerce.  Of  their  political  constitution  we  know  nothing; 
but  it  appears  that  they  formed  a  confederacy  of  five  districts,  each  having 
a  capital  town.  The  five  cities  of  the  Philistines  were  Gaza,  Ashkelon, 
Ashdod,  Gath,  and  Ekron,  besides  which  they  had  a  sacred  city  or  per¬ 
haps  only  a  temple,  called  Beth-Dagon,  or  the  House  of  Dagon  (Josh, 
xv :  41).  In  the  time  of  Abraham,  Abimelech,  their  king,  had  his  residence 
at  Gerar,  in  the  extreme  south  of  Philistia  (Gen.xx:  2;  xxi:  32;  xxvi:  1,  26). 
At  the  time  of  the  Exodus  they  had  become  so  powerful  that  it  was  out  of 
the  question  for  the  undisciplined  multitude  that  had  gone  up  out  of 
Egypt  to  cope  with  them  (Exod.  xiii:  17).  For  ages  an  irreconcilable  feud 
continued  between  the  Philistines  and  the  Israelites,  with  varying  fortunes 
to  either  party.  At  the  outset  it  seemed  that  Israel  was  to  have  a  speedy 
triumph,  for  under  Joshua,  Ekron,  Ashdod  and  Gaza  were  taken  (Josh, 
xv  145).  The  success,  however,  was  only  temporary,  and  soon  afterward 
the  Philistines  were  again  in  possession  of  all  their  cities.  In  the 
mountains  the  Israelites  were  generally  successful,  but  on  descending  to 
the  plains,  they  were  beaten  by  the  chariots  of  gigantic  enemies,  for  giants 
were  still  to  be  found  at  Gath,  Ashdod  and  Gaza  (Josh.  xi:2  2).  So  the 
Israelites  held  possession  of  the  “hill  countiy,”  and  also  the  line  of  lower 
hills  bordering  on  the  plain,  while  the  Philistines  held  the  low  land,  and 
sometimes  pressed  Israel  far  within  the  hill  country.  During  the  period 
of  the  Judges  a  continual  border  war  was  carried  on,  with  intervals  of 
comparative  peace,  but  with  frequent  outbursts  of  fury.  In  the  life  of 
Samson  the  Philistines  had  the  upper  hand  (Judg.  xiii:  1;  xv:  11);  and 
their  crowning  triumph,  in  capturing  the  ark  of  God,  hastened  the  death  of 
the  judge  and  prophet,  Eli  (1  Sam.  iv:  17,  18).  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
reign  of  Saul  they  had  pushed  their  advantage  to  the  utmost,  and  it  was 
after  a  defeat  by  the  Philistines,  on  Mount  Gilboa,  the  very  center  of 
Israel,  that  Saul  fell  upon  his  own  sword.  Under  David  the  Philistines 
were  at  last  reduced;  but  they  continued  to  be  troublesome  even  into  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii:  8). 

Of  the  five  cities  of  the  Philistines  the  most  southerly  is  Gaza,  now 
Ghuzzeh  or  Ghazza.  It  is  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  half  a  mile  from  the 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT  165 

sea,  the  hill  being  about  two  miles  in  circumference,  and  having  evidently 
been  once  wholly  enclosed  by  fortifications.  At  a  distance  it  has  an 
imposing  appearance.  It  is  a  place  of  considerable  wealth,  derived  from 
traffic  with  caravans;  but  the  inhabitants  live  in  the  meanest  and  most 
sordid  way.  Notwithstanding  its  population  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thous- 


DEATH  OF  SAMSON.  (JUDGES  XVIi  30). 

and,  Gaza  is  emphatically  a  place  of  ruins.  The  existing  houses  have  been 
built  of  the  ruins  of  previous  structures.  The  roofs  of  squalid  hovels  are 
supported  by  fragments  of  beautifully  sculptured  capitals  piled  one  upon 
the  other.  Marble  and  granite  columns  in  every  degree  of  preservation 
are  found  in  all  quarters  of  the  city,  and  in  the  cemetery  the  artist 
employed  in  making  drawings  for  Roberts’  magnificent  work,  found  a 
superb  Corinthian  capital  of  the  purest  classical  taste. 

Gaza  is  early  mentioned  in  Ploly  Scripture  (Gen.  x:  19).  It  is  famous 


164 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


in  the  history  of  Samson,  who,  in  contempt  of  the  inhabitants,  carried  off 
the  gates  of  the  town  and  deposited  them  on  a  hill  before  Hebron  (Judg. 
xvi:  3).  In  Gaza,  the  Hebrew  Hercules  met  his  fate  with  more  than  clas¬ 
sic  heroism.  Blind,  and  set  up  for  mockery  by  his  captors  in  the  temple 
of  their  god,  Samson  prayed  for  strength  to  come  to  him  just  once  more, 
and  then,  as  he  drew  together  the  great  pillars  of  the  temple,  in  which  the 
multitude  of  his  enemies  was  assembled,  he  cried:  “Let  me  die  with  the 
Philistines!”  The  pillars  yielded;  the  temple  fell;  the  heroic  Samson  died; 
but  “the  dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death  were  more  than  they  which  he 
slew  in  his  life”  (Judg.  xvi:  21-30).  To  recount  the  history  of  Gaza  would 
almost  require  a  rehearsal  of  the  history  of  Israel,  for  it  is  mentioned  in 
nearly  every  book  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  once  in  the  New.  To  the 
great  conquerors  of  the  East  it  has  been  the  key  to  Egypt.  Warriors  of 
Babylon,  Chaldea,  Persia,  have  occupied  it.  Alexander  besieged  it  for 
five  months,  and  when  he  took  it,  stained  the  luster  of  his  conquest  by 
a  merciless  slaughter  of  the  inhabitants.  In  the  crusades  it  fell  alter¬ 
nately  under  Moslem  and  Christian  rule.  Almost  within  the  present  cen¬ 
tury,  Napoleon  occupied  it;  and  in  1840,  Gaza  saw  the  Egyptian  army  of 
Ibrahim  Pasha  sullenly  retire  from  Syria,  at  the  order  of  the  great  powers 
of  Europe. 

Ashkelon,  or  Ascalon,  now  Askalan ,  overlooks  the  sea.  It  can  never 
have  had  a  natural  port;  the  roadstead  is  open  to  every  wind  that  blows, 
except  from  the  east;  but  the  remains  of  a  great  mole,  in  the  form  of  a 
horse-shoe,  which  once  afforded  shelter  for  shipping,  are  still  visible.  The 
waves  dash  over  the  ruins  of  stately  buildings  all  along  the  shore,  proving 
the  incorrectness  of  Volney’s  theory,  that  the  sea  has  receded  from  the 
ancient  site  of  Ashkelon.  It  was  a  great  city  in  ancient  times,  and  was 
famous  for  the  worship  of  Derketo,  a  Philistine  Venus,  to  whom  fish  were 
sacred,  and  in  whose  honor  fish-tanks  were  built  and  religiously  guarded. 
Her  daughter  was  worshiped  under  the  name  of  Semiramis  and  Astarte. 
Ashkelon  was  the  scene  of  one  of  the  exploits  of  Samson,  and  for  ages  it 
was  regarded  by  the  Israelites  as  one  of  the  most  hateful  and  formidable 
of  the  cities  of  Philistia.  When  Saul  and  his  sons  were  defeated,  David, 
in  his  beautiful  elegy,  exclaimed:  “Tell  it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not  in 
the  streets  of  Ashkelon,  lest  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines  rejoice,  lest 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT 


165 


the  daughters  of  the  uncircumcised  triumph!”  Ashkelon  has  the  doubtful 
honor  of  having  been  the  birth-place  of  Herod,  who  took  from  it  his  sur¬ 
name  of  Ascalonites,  and  did  much  to  beautify  and  adorn  his  native  city. 
He  built  in  it  fountains  and  baths,  which  he  surrounded  with  colonnades 
and  extensive  gardens.  It  is  possible,  too,  that  he  may  have  been  the 
builder  of  a  magnificent  temple,  the  remains  of  which,  together  with  its 
entire  ground  plan  and  many  marble  columns  of  the  Corinthian  order, 


ASCALON. 

were  uncovered,  in  the  construction  of  some  military  works,  by  Ibrahim 
Pasha,  during  the  present  century.  In  the  wars  with  the  Romans,  the 
Jews  in  vain  endeavored  to  take  possession  of  Ashkelon,  which  seems  then 
to  have  been  a  sort  of  independent  republic  under  Roman  protection.  The 
citizens  long  continued  to  be  uncompromising  enemies  of  Christianity. 
During  the  crusades,  it  was  alternately  occupied  by  Christians  and  Mos¬ 
lems,  but  was  entirely  dismantled  by  Saladin.  It  owed  its  restoration  to 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  who  rebuilt  the  fortress,  though  the  jealousy  of 
other  Christian  leaders  prevented  the  completion  of  his  work.  Since  1270, 
Ashkelon  has  been  left  in  ruins,  as  prophet  after  prophet  predicted  that  it 
should  be  (Amos  i:  8;  Zeph.  ii:  4;  Zech.  ix:  5).  It  has  become  literally  a 
desolation. 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


1 66 

Ashdod,  now  Esdud ,  was  perhaps  the  head  of  the  Philistine  confed¬ 
eracy,  as  we  learn  that  the  ark  of  God,  when  captured  from  the  Israelites, 
was  first  taken  to  (Ashdod  i  Sam.  v:  i).  The  ark  was  placed  as  a  trophy 
in  the  temple  of  Dagon  (i  Sam.  v:  2),  a  god,  half  man  and  half  fish,  of 
whom  marbles  of  Nineveh  show  both  the  form  and  the  name,  so  that  this 
deity  appears  certainly  to  have  been  borrowed  and  imported  from  Assyria 
or  Babylonia,  though  probably  at  second-hand  from  the  Phoenicians.  At 
the  distribution  of  the  Promised  Land  among  the  tribes,  Ashdod  was 
assigned  to  Judah;  but  the  gift  was  of  small  advantage,  since  Ashdod 
was  never  conquered  until  the  time  of  King  Uzziah  (2  Chron.  xxvi:  6). 
Even  Uzziah's  conquest  was  not  permanent;  and  it  was  not  until  fifty  years 
after  his  death  that  Ashdod  was  finally  subjugated  by  the  Assyrians.  In 
the  New  Testament,  Ashdod  is  mentioned  under  the  name  of  Azotus, 
where  Philip  “was  found”  after  baptizing  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch  (Acts 
viii:  38).  It  is  now  described  as  a  large  but  wretched  village,  surrounded 
with  orchards  and  gardens  of  wonderful  fertility.  The  site  of  the  original 
Ashdod  is  buried  under  drifts  of  sand,  overgrown  with  cactus,  as  Dr. 
Thomson  thinks  the  present  Esdud  is  surely  destined  to  be.  He  describes 
the  inhabitants  as  boorish  and  uncivil  in  their  intercourse  with  strangers. 

Of  Gath  the  very  site  is  now  unknown,  though  different  travelers  con¬ 
fidently  express  contradictory  opinions  concerning  it.  Perhaps  the  more 
probable  opinion,  is  that  which  locates  it  at  Tell  es  Safiyeh,  a  huge  white 
limestone  rock  rising  from  the  plain,  and  gleaming  in  the  sunshine,  as  it 
did  centuries  ago  in  the  time  of  the  crusades,  when  King  Fulke  of  Anjou 
built  a  castle  upon  its  summit  and  called  it  Blanche  Garde,  the  White 
Fortress.  It  will  always  be  memorable  as  the  birthplace  of  Goliath,  the 
Philistine  champion,  whom  David,  when  a  lad,  slew  with  a  stone  out  of  a 
sling.  Goliath  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  gigantic  race  which  had  struck 
terror  into  the  Israelites  on  their  first  approach  to  the  Land  of  Promise. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  nine  feet  in  height,  and  the  head  of  his  spear  was 
some  thirteen  pounds  in  weight.  The  Philistines  were  encamped  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  on  one  side  of  a  wady  or  valley,  through  which  a  torrent 
rushed  in  the  winter  season.  The  valley  was  then  called  the  Vale  of  Elah, 
from  the  terebinths  which  grew  there.  It  is  now  called  Wady  es  Sunt,  or 
the  Vale  of  Acacias.  The  army  of  Saul  was  encamped  on  another  hill 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT.  167 

opposite.  Day  after  day  Goliath,  as  the  champion  of  the  Philistines, 
came  forth  and  challenged  any  man  of  Israel  to  fight  with  him,  and  so 
decide  the  contest  of  the  two  armies.  No  one  dared  accept  the  gage  of 
battle  until  David,  the  shepherd  lad  from  Bethlehem,  offered  to  do  battle 
for  his  God,  his  country,  and  his  king.  Armed  only  with  a  sling  and  a 


PHILIP  AND  THE  ETHIOPIAN.  (ACTS  VIII :  36). 

few  stones  from  the  brook,  he  came  forward  toward  the  giant.  Then  fol¬ 
lowed  a  truly  Homeric  interchange  of  taunts  and  insults  between  the 
champions.  But  David  was  not  so  ill  armed  as  Goliath  thought.  The 
sling  in  the  hands  of  an  expert  is  a  tremendous  weapon.  Slingers  were 
imported  by  the  Romans  in  after  ages  from  the  Balearic  Islands,  and  in 
many  a  battle  they  did  dreadful  execution.  David  was  a  youth  of  extra¬ 
ordinary  strength,  and  expert  in  the  use  of  the  sling;  and  no  doubt  his 
plan  had  been  well  considered  before  he  entered  the  field.  Straight  at 


i68 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


the  forehead  of  the  giant  flew  a  stone  from  David’s  sling,  crashing  into 
the  huge  skull;  the  giant  fell  prone  upon  the  ground,  stunned  if  not  dead; 
and  David,  running  swiftly  up,  drew  Goliath’s  own  sword  and  struck  off 
his  head  before  his  friends  had  time  to  rush  down  to  the  rescue.  Then, 
amazed  and  terrified  at  the  discomfiture  of  their  champion,  and  wholly 
unprepared  for  any  other  battle,  the  Philistines  dispersed  and  fled.  From 
a  literary  point  of  view,  as  well  as  for  its  historical  interest,  this  story,  as 
we  find  it  in  the  Bible  (i  Sam.  xvii:  1-54)  is  one  of  the  most  striking  in  the 
Old  Testament. 

The  jealousy  of  Saul  against  his  own  deliverer  was  greater  than  the 
enmity  of  the  Philistines  themselves,  and  the  time  came  when  David  was 
glad  to  escape  from  Israel  altogether,  and  to  take  refuge  with  the  Philis¬ 
tines  in  Gath.  His  friendly  intentions,  however,  were  naturally  suspected; 
so  he  feigned  madness,  which  at  the  East,  is  regarded  with  a  kindly, 
though  superstitious,  reverence.  Still,  even  in  his  assumed  character,  he 
did  not  feel  safe,  and  from  Gath,  he  went  to  the  Cave  of  Adullam,  not  far 
off,  “where  every  one  that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in  debt, 
and  every  one  that  was  discontented,  gathered  themselves  unto  him” 
(1  Sam.  xxii:2).  He  was  soon  at  the  head  of  a  strong  body  of  men. 
Again,  however,  in  sheer  despair  at  the  relentless  pursuit  of  Saul,  David 
went  to  Gath  with  six  hundred  followers,  and  was  treated  with  confidence 
and  hospitality  (1  Sam.  xxvii:  1,  2). 

Ekron,  one  of  the  five  famous  cities  of  the  Philistines,  is  now  an  insig¬ 
nificant  village,  called  Akir.  Of  its  history  in  Biblical  times  we  know  very 
little,  and  it  has  no  later  history  whatever.  The  only  incident  of  import¬ 
ance  concerning  it  is  connected  with  the  capture  of  the  Ark  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  by  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  vi).  When  the  ark  was  first  taken,  it  was 
sent  to  Ashdod  and  thence  to  Beth-Dagon,  or  the  Temple  of  Dagon. 
Next  day  the  idol  of  Dagon  was  found  on  its  face  before  the  ark.  Being 
set  up  again,  it  was  found  on  the  morrow  morning  broken  and  mutilated, 
so  that  only  “the  stump,”  or  fishy  part,  of  Dagon  was  left.  Besides  this 
portent,  the  people  were  afflicted  with  so  strange  and  horrible  a  disease, 
that  they  were  glad  to  be  rid  of  the  ark,  and  sent  it  to  Ashdod.  The  peo¬ 
ple  of  Ashdod  fared  no  better,  and  sent  the  ark  to  Ekron;  but  the  ark 
brought  the  same  calamity  to  Ekron.  A  great  assembly  of  the  Philistines 


CAVE  OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  PROPHETS 


. 


r 


■  _• 


it 


:  r  ■ 

. 


- 


'  .  - 


- 


■ 

. 

V 


. 


.  '  I 


■ 


- 


- 


* 


* 

- 

* 


■ 


■ 

. 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT.  171 

consulted  the  priests  and  diviners  concerning  the  plague,  and  were  told  to 
return  the  ark  of  God  to  the  Israelites,  and  to  send  a  trespass  offering  to  the 
God  of  Israel  whom  they  had  offended  by  capturing  the  ark.  But  in  order 
to  be  sure  that  the  ark  was  really  the  cause  of  their  troubles,  diviners  bade 
the  Philistines  “make  a  new  cart  and  take  two  milch  kine,  on  which  there 
had  no  yoke  been  laid,  and  to  tie  the  kine  to  the  cart  and  bring  their 
calves  home  from  them.”  Then  they  were  to  lay  their  trespass  offering  on 


CAESAREA. 

the  cart  behind  the  ark,  and  let  the  kine  go.  If,  instead  of  following  their 
calves,  the  kine  took  the  way  to  the  place  of  the  ark  in  Israel,  it  would  be 
manifest  that  it  was  not  chance,  but  the  hand  of  the  God  of  Israel,  that 
had  smitten  them.  All  was  done  according  to  the  direction  of  the  priests 
and  diviners,  and  the  kine  instantly  took  “the  straight  way  to  the  way  of 
Bethshemesh,”  and  went  along  the  highway,  “lowing  as  they  went.”  The 
lords  of  the  Philistines  followed  them  to  the  border  of  Bethshemesh,  and 
there  the  Levites  received  the  ark  and  offered  sacrifice  to  the  Lord.  But 
the  men  of  Bethshemesh  committed  a  great  sacrilege  by  looking  into  the 
ark,  and  they,  too,  were  smitten,  so  that  many  of  them  died.  They  there- 


172 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


fore  implored  the  men  of  Kirjath-jearim  to  come  and  take  the  ark;  and  at 
Kirjath-jearim  it  rested  for  twenty  years. 

The  god  of  Ekron  was  Beelzebub,  the  god  of  flies,  and  was  perhaps 
worshipped  for  his  fancied  protection  against  the  swarms  of  flies  which  the 
filthy  habits  of  the  people  brought  upon  them.  In  much  the  same  way 
St.  Patrick  is  now  honored  by  the  Irish  people  for  banishing  from  their 
island  all  snakes,  and  frogs,  and  toads,  and  noxious  reptiles. 

Beit  Dejan,  an  inconsiderable  village  somewhat  less  than  six  miles 
southeast  of  Joppa,  may,  perhaps,  be  the  Beth-Dagon  or  House  of  Dagon 
mentioned  in  Scripture;  but  it  is  at  lest  ten  miles  to  the  north  of  Ekron, 
while  the  Beth-Dagon  of  the  Bible  seems  to  have  been  in  the  near  vicinity 
of  Ekron.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  this  village  may  be  the  ancient 
Beth-Dagon,  and  at  least  the  name  suffices  to  prove  that  the  Philistines 
were  at  one  time  permanently  established  in  the  Plain  of  Sharon. 

The  neighborhood  of  Akir  is  still  fertile,  and  its  fields  wave  with  rich 
harvests  of  grain,  as  the  whole  plain  of  Philistia  once  did.  If  the  Holy 
Family  returned  through  that  plain  in  the  time  of  harvest,  Joseph  would 
be  sure  to  show  the  Child  Jesus  how  easy  it  would  be  for  Samson  to  set 
fire  to  the  shocks  of  grain,  by  his  cunning  device  of  tying  fire-brands  to  the 
tails  of  foxes,  or  more  probably  jackals,  which  abound  in  that  region,  and 
letting  the  frightened  beasts  loose  from  the  hills  upon  the  plain.  In  the 
dry  season  the  fire  would  spread  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  Philistines 
would  find  themselves  assailed  by  an  enemy  against  whom  they  could 
make  no  defence.  To  this  day  the  dread  of  fire  in  the  harvest  fields  is  a 
constant  cause  of  alarm  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  country.  The  whole 
plain  and  the  adjacent  upland  country,  passed  by  the  Holy  Family,  had 
been  the  scene  of  the  exploits  of  Samson,  and  of  some  of  the  exploits  and 
sufferings  of  their  great  ancestor  David,  and  the  scenes  of  those  events 
would  not  be  unnoticed  or  unnamed  in  their  discourse.  But  at  length 
they  would  pass  a  low  range  of  hills,  and  find  themselves  in  the  Plain  of 
Sharon. 

Dean  Stanley  says:  “The  corn-fields  of  Philistia  melt  into  a  plain  less 
level  and  less  fertile,  though  still  strongly  marked  off  from  the  mountain 
wall  of  Ephraim,  as  that  of  Philistia  is  from  the  hills  of  Judah  and  Dan. 
This  is  Sharon.  It  is  interspersed  with  corn-fields,  and  thinly  studded  with 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


173 


trees,  the  remnants,  apparently,  of  a  great  forest,  which  existed  here  down 
to  the  second  century.  Eastward,  the  hills  of  Ephraim  look  down  upon 
it — the  huge,  rounded  ranges  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim  towering  above  the 
rest;  and  at  their  feet,  the  wooded  cone,  on  the  summit  of  which  stood 
Samaria.  But  its  chief  fame  then,  as  now,  was  for  its  excellence  as  a 
pasture  land.  Its  wide  undulations  are  sprinkled  with  Bedouin  tents  and 
vast  flocks  of  sheep,  the  true  successors  of  ‘the  herds  which  were  fed  in 
Sharon,’  in  David’s  reign  under  ‘Shitrai,  the  Sharonite,’  and  of  the  folds 
of  flocks,  which  Isaiah  foretold  in  Sharon  as  the  mark  of  the  restored 
Israel.  Probably  this  very  fact,  then  as  now,  rendered  it  insecure,  and 
therefore  unfrequented,  by  the  Israelites  of  the  mountain  country  above; 
at  any  rate,  during  the  whole  period  of  the  Old  Dispensation,  no  one  his¬ 
torical  name  or  event  is  attached  to  this  district.” 

Entering  this  peaceful  plain,  the  Holy  Family  would  soon  arrive  at 
Ramleh,  if  Ramleh  was  then  in  existence,  or  certainly  at  the  place  where 
Ramleh  now  stands.  Thence  their  route  would  lead  them  through  many 
a  fertile  field,  to  the  gardens  and  orchards  of  Lydda;  and  as  they  jour¬ 
neyed  onward  through  a  land  which  bloomed  with  never-failing  flowers  of 
every  hue,  they  would  surely  remember  the  famous  exclamation  of  the  royal 
Lover  in  the  Song  of  Songs:  “I  am  the  rose  of  Sharon  and  the  lily  of  the 
valley”  (Cant,  ii:  1).  It  is  a  curious  thing  that,  while  the  flowers  so  named 
cannot  now  be  identified,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  one  was  not  a  rose, 
and  that  the  other  was  not  a  lily!  The  rose  is  found  nowhere  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  except  on  the  lofty  Hermon.  It  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  the  canoni¬ 
cal  scriptures,  though  we  read  of  it  in  the  apocrypha  (Eccles.  xxiv:  14; 
xxxix:  13-18).  The  Hebrew  word  translated  “rose”  in  the  Canticles  is 
believed  to  have  been  really  the  narcissus,  which  abounds  in  the  Plain  of 
Sharon,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  the  inhabitants.  That  guess,  for,  after 
all,  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  guess,  is  probably  correct;  but  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  question  about  the  lily.  Since  we  read  of  “the  lily  among  thorns,” 
we  have  an  intimation  of  its  not  infrequent  surroundings;  since  its  bloom 
is  compared  with  the  lips  of  the  beloved  (Cant,  v:  13),  we  may  suppose  its 
color  to  have  been  red;  and  since  our  Saviour  made  the  lily  the  text  of  one 
of  his  most  lovely  discourses  (Matt,  vi:  28;  Luke  xii:  27),  we  may  under¬ 
stand  that  the  flower  in  question,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  was  a  com- 


174 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


mon  flower  in  Galilee.  These  particulars,  however,  are  not  sufficient  to 
identify  the  lily  of  the  Bible,  though  they  do  justify  a  rejection  of  some 
guesses  at  its  identity.  Thus,  Dr.  Thomson’s  supposition,  that  it  is  a 

variety  of  marsh-mal¬ 
low,  which  grows  into 
a  bush  full  of  flowers, 
and  is  often  found 
among  thorns,  is  set 
aside  by  the  fact  that 
the  colors  of  the  flow¬ 
ers  are  purple  and 
white,  not  red.  It  also 
negatives  Captain 
Conder’s  selection  of 
the  blue  iris;  and  it 
would  cause  us  to  re¬ 
ject  Dean  Stanley’s 
mention  of  the  yellow 
water  lily  of  Lake 
Huleh  (the  Waters  of 
Merom),  if  the  Dean 
did  not  himself  set  it 
aside.  On  the  whole, 
perhaps  the  most 
probable  conjecture 
is  that  which  iden¬ 
tifies  the  lily  with  the 
scarlet  anemone,  though  we  must  not  forget  that  the  old  Hebrew  word, 
shushan ,  which  is  rendered  by  lily  in  our  version,  is  now  commonly 
employed  by  the  Arabs  to  designate  any  bright-colored  flower. 

Journeying  through  the  flower-bespangled  plain,  the  travelers  would 
either  enter  or  pass  by  a  city,  which  was  then  in  the  full  flush  of  youthful 
prosperity.  It  had  always  been  one  of  Herod’s  ambitions  to  establish  a 
seaport  on  the  coast  of  his  dominions,  to  which  nature  had  denied  a  safe 
harbor.  The  port  of  Joppa  was  not  capable  of  improvement  in  that  age, 


PLAN  OF  RUINS  OF  CjESAREA-ON-SEA. 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


175 


since  the  absence  of  explosives  made  it  impossible  to  remove  the  reefs, 
which  surround  the  basin  and  impede  the  entrance  of  shipping.  Herod 
was  therefore  obliged  to  look  elsewhere.  At  length,  his  choice  fell  upon  a 
spot  about  thirty-five  miles  north  of  Joppa,  and  about  twenty-two  miles 
south  of  Mount  Carmel.  It  was  an  obscure  place,  then  known  as  Strato’s 
Tower,  where  he  erected  his  beautiful  maritime  city.  The  harbor  was 
constructed  with  enormous  labor  and  expense,  since  the  materials  were  of 
immense  weight  and  were  brought  from  a  distance.  To  protect  the  ship¬ 
ping  from  the  prevailing  south  winds,  he  made  a  breakwater  of  vast  stones 
fifty  feet  in  length,  eighteen  in  breadth  and  nine  in  thickness,  which  he  let 
down  into  the  water  to  a  depth  of  twenty  fathoms.  This  prodigious  cir¬ 
cular  mole  was  two  hundred  feet  wide,  and  upon  it  were  erected  several 
large  towers,  the  greatest  of  which  was  named  from  Drusus,  the  son-in- 
law  of  Caesar.  The  entrance  to  Herod’s  harbor  was  on  the  north,  and  the 
whole  basin  was  enclosed  with  a  quay  for  merchandise.  All  along  the 
nearly  circular  haven  were  edifices  of  polished  stone,  and  a  temple,  visible 
from  a  great  distance  at  sea,  answered  the  purpose  of  a  light-house.  In 
compliment  to  Augustus,  the  city  was  called  Caesarea.  Like  the  mole,  it 
was  built  in  the  most  solid  and  costly  manner,  even  the  underground  cel¬ 
lars  having  more  elaborate  workmanship  than  many  conspicuous  edifices 
in  other  cities.  The  drainage  and  sewerage  were  perfect;  and  after  twelve 
years  from  the  inception  of  the  work,  Herod  had  the  satisfaction  of  know¬ 
ing  that  he  was  the  founder  of  the  most  beautiful  commercial  city  in  the 
East.  But  it  was  distinctly  not  a  Jewish  city.  Though  on  Israelitish 
soil,  its  inhabitants  were  mostly  heathens,  and  for  their  delectation,  as 
well  as  for  the  ornamentation  of  Caesarea,  Herod  built  a  theater,  and  also 
a  magnificent  amphitheater,  conveniently  situated  so  as  to  command  a 
prospect  of  the  sea,  and  of  such  dimensions  as  to  accommodate  a  vast 
concourse  of  spectators.  The  security  of  the  harborage  and  the  salubrity 
of  the  place,  soon  brought  to  Caesarea  a  large,  enterprising  and  wealthy 
population;  and  as  the  seat  of  Roman  government,  it  had  all  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  a  provincial  capital. 

In  the  New  Testament  we  have  frequent  mention  of  Caesarea.  When 
Philip,  the  deacon,  “was  found’’  at  Azotus,  we  are  told  that  he  went  on 
preaching  to  Caesarea  (Acts  viir.qo);  and  there,  it  seems,  he  must  have 


1 76 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


made  his  permanent  abode.  At  all  events  he  was  settled  there  a  quarter 
of  a  century  later,  at  the  time  of  Paul’s  return  from  his  third  missionary 
journey,  keeping  his  own  house,  and  living  with  his  four  gifted  daughters 
(Acts  xxi:8,  9),  Caesarea  was  the  scene  of  the  first  gentile  baptism,  for  it 
was  there  that  the  Centurion  Cornelius  lived,  and  it  was  to  Caesarea  that 
Peter  went  by  angelic  command,  under  the  injunction  thenceforward  to 
deem  no  human  soul  “common  or  unclean.”  While  he  was  yet  preaching 
to  them  the  message  of  the  gospel,  we  are  told  that  the  “Holy  Ghost  fell 
upon  all  them  that  heard  the  word;”  whereupon  Peter  saw  that  it  would 
be  absurd  to  refuse  baptism  to  men  on  whom  the  power  of  the  Spirit  had 
fallen  even  before  baptism  (Acts  x:24,  44-48). 

It  was  about  four  years  after  the  baptism  of  the  first  gentile  converts 
that  Herod  Agrippa  died  in  the  proud  city  of  his  grandfather.  He  had 
ordered  magnificent  games  to  be  celebrated  in  the  theater,  in  honor  of  the 
emperor,  and  attended  them  in  person,  gorgeously  apparelled,  in  robes  of 
silver  cloth.  As  he  appeared  in  the  theater,  the  sun  shone  full  upon  him, 
and  the  sheen  of  his  robes  glittered  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude.  It  had 
become  the  fashion  to  hail  the  Roman  emperors  as  gods,  while  yet  alive; 
and  the  magnificence  of  Herod  prompted  the  crowd  to  pay  him  a  like 
honor.  Therefore,  when  he  made  an  oration,  the  people  gave  a  great 
shout,  crying,  “It  is  the  voice  of  a  god,  not  of  a  man.”  Herod  permitted 
the  blasphemous  homage,  and  in  a  few  hours  his  mortality  was  proved  by 
one  of  the  most  horrible  and  disgusting  of  deaths  (Acts  xii  120-23), 

Paul  landed  at  the  port  of  Caesarea  on  his  return  from  his  second  mis¬ 
sionary  journey;  he  tarried  there  for  some  time  on  his  return  from  his  third 
missionary  journey;  and  not  long  afterward  he  was  brought  back  to  the 
same  place  as  a  prisoner  from  Jerusalem  (Acts  xxiii:  23-33).  There  he  re¬ 
mained  a  prisoner  for  two  years  (Acts  xxiv:2  7),  at  the  beginning  of  which 
he  delivered  his  famous  oration  before  the  Roman  governor.  Felix  trembled 
at  the  apostle’s  announcement  of  coming  judgment,  but  was  content  to  dis¬ 
miss  him  to  a  more  convenient  season,  and  at  last  left  him  in  chains  (Acts 
xxiv).  It  was  toward  the  close  of  his  imprisonment  that  Paul  made  his 
great  defense  in  the  presence  of  the  governor  Festus,  who  had  succeeded 
Felix,  of  the  young  King  Agrippa,  son  of  the  unhappy  Herod  Agrippa  of 
whom  we  have  just  spoken,  and  also  of  the  young  queen  Berenice  (Acts 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


1 77 


xxvi:  1-29).  King  Agrippa  was  “almost  persuaded  to  be  a  Christian”  by 
the  earnest  eloquence  of  Paul,  and  the  verdict  was  that  nothing  but  Paul’s 
own  appeal  to  Caesar  prevented  him  from  being  set  at  liberty  (Acts  xvi:32). 
Thus,  by  what  seemed  to  be  an  error  of  judgment,  but  what  Paul  himself 
doubtless  believed  to  be  a  clear  guidance  of  divine  providence,  the  apostle 
was  sent  as  the  “prisoner  of  the  Lord,”  to  preach  the  gospel  at  Rome  also, 
and  leaving  Caesarea  for  the  last  time,  he  sailed  to  Rome. 

Long  ages  afterward  Caesarea  was  the  home  of  the  Christian  historian 
Eusebius;  it  was  the  scene  of  some  of  the  labors  of  the  illustrious  Origen; 
and  it  was  the  birthplace  of  Procopius.  It  was  still  a  place  of  importance 
during  the  crusades.  It  is  now  utterly  desolate;  only  fragments  of  the  vast 
works  of  Herod  remain;  the  ruins  of  the  city  have  been  used  as  quarries  for 
the  buildings  of  other  towns;  only  the  name  of  Caesarea  now  lingers  in  the 
modern  name  of  Kaisariyeh ,  which  is  still  given  to  the  site  of  the  beautiful 
city  of  Herod  the  Great. 

A  few  short  miles  northward  of  Caesarea  the  Holy  Family  would  come 
in  sight  of  Mount  Carmel,  sacred  in  the  history  of  Israel  and  in  the  esti¬ 
mation  of  mankind.  The  name  of  Carmel  signifies  the  Park ,  or  the  Well 
Wooded  Place ,  and  both  designations  are  appropriate.  Carmel  is  more 
like  a  vast  rolling  park  than  a  mountain  range.  It  extends  from  the  prom¬ 
ontory,  where  it  seems  to  push  itself  into  the  sea,  and  where  its  elevation 
is  only  five  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  Mediterranean,  for  twelve 
miles,  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  to  a  village  called  Esjia,  where  the 
height  is  seventeen  hundred  and  forty  feet.  The  highest  peak,  however, 
is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  Esfia,  and  rises  to  something  over  eight¬ 
een  hundred  feet.  At  its  southeastern  end  the  mountain  breaks  down  ab¬ 
ruptly  into  the  hills  of  Samaria.  The  seaward  side  of  the  range  descends 
in  gradual  slopes  to  the  Plain  of  Sharon;  but  on  the  other  side  it  falls  pre¬ 
cipitously  to  the  banks  of  the  river  Kishon.  The  rock  is  limestone,  inter¬ 
mixed  with  flint;  and,  as  is  not  unusual  in  limestone  formations,  it  abounds 
in  caves,  many  of  which  are  of  considerable  length  and  extremely  tortuous. 
Carmel  is  thickly  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  various  trees  and 
shrubs,  and  is  richly  decked  with\  flowers.  Dean  Stanley  says  that  the 
shrubberies  of  Carmel  are  thicker  than  in  any  other  part  of  Central  Pales¬ 
tine.  Other  travelers  speak  of  its  inpenetrable  brushwood  of  oaks  and 


t 


178 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


■evergreens,  it's  rocky  dells  and  deep  jungles  of  copse,  its  profusion  of  holly¬ 
hocks,  jasmines,  flowering  creepers,  and  all  the  flowers  of  that  part  of  the 
Holy  Land.  Indeed,  Van  de  Velde  says  that  he  had  seen  not  one  flower 
in  Galilee  or  in  the  plains  along  the  coast  that  he  did  not  find  on  Carmel, 
fragrant  and  lovely  as  of  old;  and  Martineau  describes  the  whole  mountain 
side,  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  as  being  clothed  with  blossoms  and  flowering 
shrubs  and  fragrant  herbs.  Well  might  the  Hebrew  prophet  speak  of  “the 
excellency  of  Carmel  and  Sharon”  in  the  same  sentence,  since  both  were 
alike  lovely  (Isa.  xxxv:2),  and  very  beautifully  does  the  Beloved,  in  the 
Song  of  Songs,  compare  the  head  of  his  bride  to  the  rich  and  perfumed 
foliage  of  leafy  Carmel  (Cant.  vii.  5).  It  is  supposed  from  Jeremiah  iv:26, 
that  Carmel  was  once  thickly  inhabited,  and  St.  Jerome  says  that  in  his 
time  the  sides  of  the  mountain  were  covered  with  vines  and  olives.  If  it 
ever  was  so,  it  is  not  so  now;  the  fruitful  place  has  indeed  become  a  wil¬ 
derness.  Jackals  make  the  night  vocal,  if  not  musical,  with  their  plaintive 
cry;  the  howl  of  the  hyena  is  likewise  heard;  panthers  are  not  entirely  un¬ 
known;  and  it  is4  said  that  the  monks  of  Carmel,  searching  for  medicinal 
herbs,  discover  huge  serpents  lurking  in  the  thickets. 

Carmel  has  been  sacred  even  to  the  heathen.  An  ancient  altar  of 
Jehovah  existed  on  one  of  its  “high  places”  before  the  worship  of  Baal 
had  been  introduced  into  Israel  (1  Kings  xviii:  30).  There  was  an  ancient 
custom  among  the  people  of  resorting  thither  on  Sabbath  days  and  new 
moon  festivals  (2  Kings  iv:  23).  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  place 

had  some  character  of  sanctity  even  before 
it  came  into  the  possession  of  Israel.  In 
later  times  its  fame  spread  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  Palestine.  Pythagoras  visited 
it,  and  so  did  his  biographer,  Iamblichus. 
coin  of  caisAREA  under  nero.  Tacitus  tells  amysterious  story  of  a  visit 
made  to  Carmel  by  Vespasian.  The  mighty  Roman  found  there 
neither  image  nor  temple;  only  an  altar  and  worship;  and  on  his 
consulting  the  god  of  Carmel  by  sacrifice  concerning  weighty  matters, 
which  he  was  then  secretly  meditating,  the  priest  Basilides,  after  in¬ 
specting  the  victims,  cried  aloud,  “What  hast  thou  in  mind,  Vespas¬ 
ian?  Thou  art  laying  the  foundations  of  a  mighty  edifice!”  In  the 


PROMONTORY  OF  CARMEL,  LOOKING  SOUTHWEST. 

Edward  I  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Carmel.  The  Car¬ 
melite  monks  have  had  many  misfortunes.  Again  and  again  their  monas¬ 
tery  has  been  destroyed.  That  which  gave  shelter  to  the  wounded 
French  soldiers  in  1799  was  razed  to  the  ground  in  1821,  during  the  Greek 
revolt;  and  the  convent,  which  now  stands  on  the  promontory  fronting  the 
sea,  is  the  work  of  one  poor  monk,  who  begged  the  means  for  its  erection, 
and  who  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  structure  in  1828.  In  all  respects  the 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT.  179 

Christian  era  Carmel  has  been  sacred  indeed.  In  the  first  ages  an¬ 
chorites  resorted  thither,  and  made  their  abode  among  the  many  caves. 
About  the  year  400  John,  of  Jerusalem,  established  the  monastic  order  of 
Carmelites,  and  one  of  its  greatest  generals  was  Simon  Stoke,  of  Kent  in 
England,  whose  remains  lie  buried  on  the  mountain  where  he  spent 
nearly  twenty  years  of  his  life.  Among  the  many  illustrious  pilgrims  to 
Mount  Carmel,  St.  Louis  of  France  is  numbered,  and  the  English 


i8o 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


Convent  of  Mar  Elyas,  as  it  is  popularly  called,  though  really  dedicated 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  is  the  most  beautiful  in  Palestine.  It  is  built  in  the 
modern  Italian  style,  with  sixty  windows  on  the  front,  with  walls  massive 
as  those  of  a  fortress,  and  the  rear  wall  covered  with  fine  slabs  of  porce¬ 
lain.  The  view  from  its  terraced  gardens  is  superb.  To  the  north  lies 
St.  Jean  d’Acre,  looking  so  near  in  the  clear  atmosphere  as  almost  to  be 
touched  with  the  hand.  On  the  east  and  northeast  are  the  mountains  of 
Galilee,  with  their  irregular  outlines  and  of  different  altitudes,  studded 
with  villages  and  towns.  On  the  south  is  the  magnificent  promontory  of 

Athlit,  with  its  gigantic  ruins.  The  whole  view  is  unspeakably  grand  and 

* 

impressive,  even  apart  from  the  venerable  associations,  which  connect  it 
with  the  two  great  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha. 

Within  the  convent,  which  has  always  been  called  the  Convent  of 
Elijah  ( Deir  Mar  Elyas),  as  Carmel  itself  is  called  the  Mountain  of 
Elijah  ( Jebel  Mar  Elyas'),  is  shown  a  cave  under  the  altar,  which  is 
said  to  be  the  veritable  cave  in  which  Elijah  found  a  refuge  from  his 
persecutors.  Not  far  off  is  a  place  called  the  Garden  of  Elijah,  where,  as 
elsewhere  on  Carmel,  are  found  hollow  stones,  called  by  geologists  geodes. 
When  broken  they  are  found  to  contain  crystallized  quartz  or  chalcedony. 
There  is  a  curious  tradition  that  they  are  melons,  peaches,  apples,  and 
other  fruit,  petrified  by  Elijah  in  punishment  of  an  offence  against  hospi¬ 
tality  to  which  he  was  subjected.  Miss  Rogers,  one  of  the  writers  of 
Picturesque  Palestine ,  who  lived  for  many  years  in  that  neighborhood, 
gives  the  legend  as  she  received  it  from  a  peasant  on  the  spot.  This  is  the 
story:  “In  the  days  of  Mar  Elyas  (Elijah)  a  certain  man  possessed  a 
large  garden  in  this  valley.  His  fruit  trees  flourished  exceedingly,  and  his 
water  melons  were  renowned  for  their  size  and  flavor.  One  day  Elijah 
passed  by  this  garden  and  saw  its  owner  gathering  melons,  and  there  was 
a  great  heap  of  them  on  the  ground;  and  Elijah  said,  ‘O  friend,  give  me  of 
the  fruit  of  your  garden;  out  of  your  abundance  a  little  fruit  to  quench 
my  thirst!’  And  the  man  answered,  ‘  O,  my  lord,  this  is  not  fruit  that 
you  see;  these  are  but  heaps  of  stones.’  And  Elijah  replied,  ‘Be  it  so!’ 
And  immediately  all  the  fruit  of  the  garden,  the  gathered  and  the  ungath¬ 
ered,  was  turned  to  stone!”  Many  such  stories,  Miss  Rogers  says,  are 
told  in  Palestine  of  punishment  inflicted  on  the  inhospitable.  This  for 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT.  181 

instance:  Once  when  Abraham  was  on  a  journey,  he  passed  by  a  great 
heap  of  rock-salt,  and  asked  its  owners  to  give  him  a  handful.  They 
replied,  “Alas,  this  is  not  salt;  it  is  only  rock  in  the  likeness  of  salt.’’  And 
Abraham  said,  “Be  it  so  even  as  ye  have  said!”  And  immediately  the 
salt  became  tasteless  rock,  and  to  this  day  it  is  called  “the  salt  that  lost 
its  savor.” 

From  the  Convent  of  Mar  Elyas,  which  is  five  hundred  and  fifty-six 


ELIJAH  DESTROYING  THE  PRIESTS  OF  BAAL.  (i  KINGS  XVIII :  40). 

feet  above  the  sea,  the  central  ridge  of  Carmel  extends  in  solitude,  unbroken 
by  a  single  dwelling,  to  Esfia,  where  the  height  is  seventeen  hundred 
and  forty-two  feet.  Three  and  a  half  miles  distant  is  El  Maharrakah ,  the 
traditional  place  of  the  contest  of  Elijah,  with  four  hundred  and  fifty 
prophets  of  Baal,  and  four  hundred  “prophets  of  the  groves,”  that  is, 
prophets  of  Asharoth  or  Astarte  (i  Kings  xviii).  “The  tradition,”  says 


182 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


Dean  Stanley,  “is  unusually  trustworthy.  It  is  one  of  the  very  few,  per¬ 
haps  the  only  case,  in  which  the  recollection  of  an  alleged  event  has  been 
actually  retained  in  the  native  Arabic  nomenclature.  Many  names  of 
towns  have  been  so  preserved,  but  here  is  no  town,  only  a  shapeless  ruin, 
yet  the  spot  has  a  name,  ‘El  Maharrakah,’  the  ‘Burning,’  or  the  ‘Sacrifice.’ 
The  Druses,  some  of  whom  inhabit  the  neighboring  villages,  come  here  to 
perform  a  yearly  sacrifice,  and,  though  it  is  possible  that  this  practice  may 
have  originated  the  name,  yet  it  is  more  probable  that  the  practice  itself 
arose  from  some  earlier  tradition  attached  to  the  spot.  But  be  the  tra¬ 
dition  good  or  bad,  the  localities  adapt  themselves  to  the  event  in  almost 
every  particular.  There  on  the  highest  point  of  the  mountain,  may  well 
have  stood  on  its  sacred  ‘high  place,’  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  which  Jezebel 
had  cast  down.  Close  beneath,  on  a  wide  upland  sweep,  under  the  shade 
of  ancient  olives  and  round  a  well  of  water,  said  to  be  perennial,  and 
which  may,  therefore,  have  escaped  the  general  drought,  and  have  been 
able  to  furnish  water  for  the  trenches  round  the  'altar — must  have  been 
ranged  on  one  side  the  king  and  people,  with  the  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
prophets  of  Baal  and  Astarte,  and  on  the  other  side,  the  solitary  and  com¬ 
manding  figure  of  the  prophet  of  the  Lord.  Lull  before  them  opened  the 
whole  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  with  Tabor  and  kindred  ranges  in  the  distance; 
on  the  rising  ground  at  the  opening  of  the  valley,  the  city  of  Jezreel,  with 
Ahab’s  palace  and  Jezebel’s  temple  distinctly  visible;  in  the  near  fore¬ 
ground,  immediately  under  the  base  of  the  mountain,  was  clearly  seen  the 
winding  stream  of  the  Kishon,  working  its  way  through  the  narrow  pass 
of  the  hills  into  the  Bay  of  Acre.  Such  a  scene,  with  such  recollections 
of  the  past,  with  such  sights  of  the  present,  was  indeed  a  fitting  theater 
for  a  conflict  more  momentous  than  any  which  their  ancestors  had  fought 
in  the  plain  below.  This  is  not  the  place  to  enlarge  upon  the  intense 
solemnity  and  significance  of  that  conflict,  which  lasted  on  the  mountain 
height  from  morning  till  noon,  from  noon  till  the  time  of  the  evening  sac¬ 
rifice.  It  ended  at  last  in  the  level  plain  below,  where  Elijah  ‘brought’ 
the  defeated  prophets  ‘down’  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain  ‘to  the  tor¬ 
rent  of  Kishon,  and  slew  them  there.’  The  closing  scene  remains.  From 
the  slaughter  by  the  side  of  the  Kishon,  the  king  ‘went  up’  at  Elijah’s  bid¬ 
ding,  once  again  to  the  peaceful  glades  of  Carmel,  to  join  in  the  sacrificial 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


*83 

feast.  And  Elijah,  too,  ascended  to  ‘the  top  of  the  mountain,’  and  there, 
with  his  face  upon  the  earth,  remained  wrapt  in  prayer,  whilst  his  servant 
mounted  to  the  highest  point  of  all,  whence  there  is  a  wide  view  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  over  the  western  shoulder  of  the  ridge.  The  sun  was 
now  gone  down,  but  the  cloudless  sky  was  lit  up  with  the  long  bright  glow 
which  succeeds  an  eastern  sunset.  Seven  times  the  servant  climbed  and 
looked,  and  seven  times  there  was  nothing;  the  sky  was  still  clear,  the  sea 
was  still  calm.  At  last,  out  of  the  far  horizon,  there  rose  a  little  cloud — 
the  first  that  had  for  days  and  months  passed  across  the  heavens — and  it 
grew  in  the  deepening  shades  of  evening,  and  at  last  the  whole  sky  was 
overcast,  and  the  forests  of  Carmel  shook  in  the  welcome  sound  of  those 
mighty  winds,  which  in  eastern  regions  precede  a  coming  tempest.  Each 
from  his  separate  height,  the  king  and  the  prophet  descended.  And  the 
king  mounted  his  chariot  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  lest  the  long  hoped- 
for  rain  should  swell  the  torrent  of  the  Kishon,  as  in  the  days  when  it 
swept  away  the  host  of  Sisera;  and  ‘the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon 
Elijah,’  and  he  girt  his  mantle  about  his  loins,  and,  amidst  the  rushing 
storm  with  which  the  night  closed  in,  he  ‘ran  before  the  chariot,’  as  the 
Bedouins  of  his  native  Gilead  still  run,  with  inexhaustible  strength,  to  the 
entrance  of  Jezreel,  distant,  though  still  visible,  from  the  scene  of  his 
triumph.” 

Carmel  was  probably  the  scene  of  another  fiery  triumph  of  Elijah. 
Ahaziah,  the  son  and  successor  of  Ahab,  had  learned  nothing  from  the  evil 
fortunes  of  his  magnificent  father  and  his  wicked  mother,  but  was  wholly 
given  to  idolatry.  Meeting  with  an  accident  by  which  he  was  disabled,  he 
sent  to  consult  the  oracle  of  Beelzebub  at  Ekron,  but  his  messengers  were 
met  by  a  strange,  wild  figure,  which  commanded  them  to  turn  back.  When 
the  king  demanded  why  they  had  returned  without  performing  their 
errand,  they  replied  that  a  man  met  them  and  said,  “Go,  turn  again  to  the 
king  that  sent  you  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Is  it  because 
there  is  no  God  in  Israel  that  thou  sendest  to  inquire  of  Beelzebub,  the 
God  of  Ekron?  Therefore  thou  shalt  not  come  down  from  that  bed  on 
which  thou  art  gone  up.  Thou  shalt  surely  die.”  When  the  king  learned 
that  the  prophet  of  evil  who  had  met  his  messengers  was  a  man  with  flow¬ 
ing  hair  and  beard,  girt  with  a  leathern  girdle  round  his  loins,  he  forthwith 


1 84 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


knew  it  to  be  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  and  sent  fifty  men  to  apprehend  him. 
With  feigned  courtesy,  the  captain  of  the  company  addressed  the  prophet 
as  he  sat  on  the  top  of  the  mount:  “Thou  man  of  God,”  he  said,  “the 
king  hath  bidden  thee  come  down;”  to  which  was  given  the  fearful  answer, 
“If  I  be  a  man  of  God,  let  fire  come  down  from  heaven  and  consume  thee 
and  thy  company.”  So  the  fifty  men  perished,  and  another  fifty  after 
them;  but  when  the  captain  of  the  third  prayed  humbly  for  forgiveness, 
the  Lord  bade  Elijah  go  to  the  king.  The  prophet  went  and  stood  before 
the  king,  but  only  to  repeat  the  words  of  doom  that  had  already  been  pro¬ 
nounced  to  the  king’s  messengers.  This  was  the  last  interview  of  the 
prophet  of  Carmel  with  the  house  of  Ahab,  which  had  so  stubbornly  refused 
to  be  reformed.  Elijah  represented  the  sure  vengeance  of  a  violated  law; 
but  his  spirit  was  far  other  than  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Ages  later,  when 
Christ’s  disciples  were  offended  by  the  churlish  rudeness  of  some  villagers 
of  Samaria,  they  looked  upward,  it  may  be,  to  the  heights  of  Carmel,  ris¬ 
ing  before  them  in  the  distance,  and  recalling  the  destruction  of  Elijah’s 
foes,  two  of  them  asked  their  Master,  “Wilt  Thou  that  we  command  fire  to 
come  down  from  heaven  and  consume  them  even  as  Elijah  did?”  But  their 
Master  turned  upon  them  and  rebuked  them,  saying  solemnly  and  ten¬ 
derly,  “Ye  know  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of;  the  Son  of  Man  is  not 
come  to  destroy  men’s  lives,  but  to  save  them”  (Luke  ix :  5 1—56) ;  as  if  He 
had  said,  “Ye  are  mistaking  and  confounding  the  different  standpoints  of 
the  Old  and  New  Covenants;  taking  your  stand  on  the  old — that  of  an 
avenging  righteousness,  when  you  should  rejoice  to  take  it  on  the  New — 
that  of  a  forgiving  love”  (Trench  on  the  Miracles). 

If  Elijah  was  a  prophet  of  vengeance  and  retribution,  Elisha  was  a 
minister  of  mercy,  doing  good  continually;  and  one  of  the  most  charming 
stories  of  his  life  belongs  to  Carmel  (2  Kings  iv  18-37).  “ft  fell  on  a 
day,”  we  are  told,  that  Elisha  passed  to  Shunem  in  the  Plain  of  Esdraelont 
and  was  hospitably  entertained  by  a  good  woman  there.  She  reverenced 
the  prophet’s  holiness,  and  provided  for  him  a  little  chamber  on  the  wall 
with  modest  comforts  which  should  be  at  his  disposal  always.  The 
prophet  was  in  favor  with  the  king,  and  “it  fell  on  a  day”  that  he  sent  his 
servant  to  inquire  of  his  kind  hostess  whether  he  should  use  his  influence 
at  court  in  her  behalf.  She  wisely  thought  it  best  to  remain  among  her 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


185 


own  people,  and  then  the  prophet  promised  her  the  boon  of  motherhood, 
for  until  then  she  was  childless.  The  promised  child  was  born,  and  grew 
for  years;  and  then  again  “it  fell  on  a  day”  that  in  the  field  among  the 
reapers,  he  cried  to  his  father,  “My  head!  my  head!”  The  father  had  him 
carried  to  his  mother,  but  the  child  was  sick  unto  death,  and  at  noontide, 
on  his  mother’s  knees,  he  died.  There  was  no  help  now,  unless  through 
the  prophet;  so  she  laid  the  boy  in  the  prophet’s  chamber,  on  the  prophet’s 


ELISHA  AND  THE  SHUNEMITE’S  SON.  (2  KINGS  IV.  8-37.) 


bed,  and  hastened  to  Mount  Carmel,  where  the  prophet  was.  While  he 
was  still  far  off  he  saw  her  coming  and  sent  his  servant  to  ask,  “Is  it  well 
with  thee?  is  it  well  with  thy  husband?  is  it  well  with  the  child?”  But  she 
had  naught  to  say  to  the  servant;  she  hasted  to  the  prophet,  cast  herself 
before  him,  embraced  his  feet,  and  moaned  out  her  complaint.  The  gentle 
prophet  bade  his  servant  go  with  her  at  once  and  lay  his  prophet’s  staff 


THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 


1 86 

upon  the  child;  but  the  Shunemite  refused  to  go  with  Gehazi.  “As  the 
Lord  liveth,”  she  said,  “and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee.”  So 
the  prophet  himself  went  with  the  Shunemite,  and  came  into  her  house,  and 
entered  his  chamber  where  the  dead  child  was,  and  closed  the  door,  and 
prayed,  and  stretched  himself  seven  times  upon  the  lad,  and  at  length  the 
child’s  eyes  opened.  And  Elisha  called  his  servant  Gehazi  and  said,  “Call 
the  Shunemite.”  So  he  called  her.  And  when  she  came  in,  he  said,  “Take 
up  thy  son!”  Then  she  went  in,  and  fell  at  his  feet,  and  bowed  herself  to 
the  ground,  and  took  up  her  son  and  went  out. 

If  Jesus  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  Joseph  really  did  pass  Mount 
Carmel  on  their  way  from  Egypt  to  Nazareth,  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  suppose  they  must  have  done  so,  this  delightful  story  would  not  fail  to 
be  remembered  at  the  scene  where  it  took  place.  At  the  foot  of  Carmel 
is  a  cave  called  the  School  of  the  Prophets,  where  young  men  are  said  to 
have  been  trained  to  the  prophetic  ministry.  Centuries  ago  it  was  ten¬ 
anted  by  a  company  of  Carmelites  and  a  little  chapel  was  built  close  by; 
but  the  monks  were  massacred  by  the  Mahommedans,  who  took  possession 
of  it  and  have  held  it  ever  since.  It  is  greatly  reverenced  both  by  Mos¬ 
lems  and  by  Christians,  and  it  is  specially  resorted  to  by  mothers  who 
desire  to  pray  for  their  young  children.  At  or  near  the  Grotto  of  the 
School  of  the  Prophets,  there  is  a  tradition  that  the  young  Child  Jesus  and 
his  Virgin  Mother  rested  for  a  night  when  journeying  home  from  Egypt  to 
Nazareth. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 

Plain  of  Esdraelon — Origin  of  the  Name — Its  Mountain  Boundaries — Harosheth — Megiddo — Taanach — 
Tyranny  of  Jabin — Battle  of  the  Kishon — Defeat  and  Death  of  Sisera — Song  of  Deborah  and  Ba¬ 
rak — The  French  in  Esdraelon — Battle  of  El  Fuleh — Victory  of  Gideon  over  the  Midianites — 
Battle  of  Gilboa — Endor— Death  of  Saul  and  Jonathan — Battle  of  Megiddo — Death  of  King 
Josiah — Armageddon — En  Gannim — The  Ten  Lepers — Mount  Gilboa — Jezreel — Residence  of 
Ahab — Death  of  Ahaziah — Revolt  of  Jehu — Death  of  Jezebel — Hill  of  Moreh — Shunem — Nain — 
Raising  of  the  Widow’s  Son — Mount  Tabor — Approach  to  Nazareth — Description  of  Nazareth — 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin — Church  of  St.  Gabriel — Kitchen  of  the  Virgin — Table  of  Christ — Holy 
House  of  Loretto — Hill  of  the  Precipitation — Character  of  the  Nazarenes — View  from  the  Hill  of 
Nazareth — Modern  Nazareth — The  Childhood  of  Jesus — A  Story  from  Luther — Sabbath  Occupa¬ 
tions — Education — Legends  of  the  Infancy — Wordsworth’s  Sonnet  to  the  Virgin. 

SHALL  suppose  the  Holy  Family  to 
have  taken  the  road  which  runs  just 
south  of  Carmel,  at  Jokneam ,  now  called 
Tell  Keimum ,  about  twelve  miles  from 
the  cape  where  the  mountain  juts  into  the 
sea.  From  the  crest  of  the  ridge, 
would  see  before  them  the  great  battle¬ 
field  of  Palestine,  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon. 
Esdraelon  is  the  Graecized  form  of  the 
Hebrew  Jezreel;  for,  just  as  the  whole 
land  has  taken  its  name  of  Palestine  from 
the  Philistines,  who  inhabited  only  a  part 
of  it,  so  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon  has  taken 
its  name  from  the  little  valley  of  Jezreel 
which  lies  to  the  north  of  Mount  Gilboa, 
and  runs  to  the  Jordan  Valley.  There 
are  several  points  from  which  a  noble 
view  of  this  beautiful  Plain  of  Esdraelon  can  be  had,  and  one  of  these  is 
the  southeastern  summit  of  the  Carmel  ridge,  near  Jokneam.  1  he  plain  is 
surrounded  by  hills  and  mountains.  From  Cape  Carmel  extends  the  ridge 
of  Mount  Carmel  for  twelve  miles  to  the  southwest;  thence  in  the  same 

187 


GIRL  OF  NAZARETH. 


1 88 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


general  direction  run  the  hills  of  Manasseh;  on  the  south  are  the  hills  of 
Samaria;  at  the  southeast  rise  the  mountains  of  Gilboa;  on  the  east  is  the 
hill  of  Moreh;  which  English  writers  commonly,  but  incorrectly,  call  Little 
Hermon;  on  the  northeast  is  Mount  Tabor;  on  the  north  lie  the  hills  of 
Nazareth.  Westward  the  plain  is  drained  by  the  river  or  torrent  of  Kishon, 
which  runs  close  by  the  foot  of  Carmel,  into  the  Bay  of  Acre,  where  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon  opens  into  the  maritime  plain  called  the  Plain  of  Akka; 
and  on  the  east  there  are  two  wadys  or  valleys,  besides  the  valley  of  Jezreel, 
through  which  the  water  flows  into  the  Jordan. 

If  we  suppose  the  Holy  Family  to  have  caught  their  first  view  of  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon  from  the  neighborhood  of  Jokneam,  then,  about  four 
miles  to  the  northwest,  at  a  place  now  called  El-Harathiyeh ,  was  the  site 
of  Harosheth  of  the  Gentiles;  a  few  miles  to  the  southeast  was  the  city  of 
Megiddo ,  which  has  been  identified  by  Dr.  Robinson  with  Lejjun,  and  by 
Captain  Conder  with  Mujedda\  yet  a  little  further  to  the  southeast,  was 
Taanach ,  still  known  by  the  name  of  Taanuk\  and  almost  at  their  feet 
flowed  the  Kishon,  whose  waters  had  run  red  with  Canaanitish  blood  on 
that  famous  day  when  Deborah  rose  up  as  a  mother  in  Israel,  and  Barak 
smote  the  host  of  Sisera  with  a  mighty  slaughter.  From  his  stronghold, 
Harosheth,  Jabin,  the  Canaanitish  king,  controlled  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon, 
which  was  occupied  by  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  and  by  the  opening  of  the 
Kishon,  he  had  easy  access  to  his  capital  at  Hazor,  whence  he  could 
oppress  the  tribes  of  Asher,  Zebulon  and  Naphtali,  which  lay  beyond  the 
plain.  The  hand  of  Jabin  was  heavy  on  Israel.  The  fields  of  Esdraelon 
were  forsaken;  the  highways  were  unused;  the  traveler  made  his  way  from 
place  to  place  by  solitary  by-paths  (Judg.  v:6);  the  fortunes  of  that  por¬ 
tion  of  the  country  were  low  indeed,  when  Deborah  sent  a  ringing  mes¬ 
sage  to  Barak,  calling  him  to  the  deliverance  of  his  people.  First  taking 
her  promise  to  go  with  him,  Barak  called  the  men  of  Zebulun  and  Naph¬ 
tali  to  follow  him,  and  went  up  to  the  broad  summit  of  Mount  Tabor  with 
ten  thousand  men  at  his  feet  (Judg.  iv).  This  little  army  was  an  ill 
match  for  the  host  of  Sisera,  the  general  of  Jabin’s  host,  who  marched 
quickly  with  his  whole  force,  and  with  not  less  than  nine  hundred  of  those 
chariots  of  iron  which  had  always  been  the  terror  of  the  Israelites,  to  a 
position  between  Megiddo  and  Taanach,  having  the  Kishon  in  his  front. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAEI  ON  AND  NAZARETH. 


190 

On  Mount  Tabor,  however,  Barak  was  safe,  since  the  chariots  of  Sisera 
were  powerless  against  him  there.  But  the  battle  must  be  fought  in  the 
plain  below,  and  Deborah  gave  the  signal  for  the  onset.  Barak  marched 
boldly  down  from  Tabor  and  across  the  plain,  and  as  he  attacked  Sisera’s 
right  flank,  Josephus  says  a  tremendous  storm  of  rain  and  hail  came  on, 
and  beat  full  in  the  faces  of  the  enemy.  The  ground  became  all  sodden 
with  the  falling  water,  embarrassing  the  horses  of  the  Canaanites;  the 
chariots  stuck  fast  in  the  mire;  the  heathen  host  was  thrown  into  complete 
confusion.  Blinded  by  the  hail,  they  were  forced  back  and  broke  into 
retreat.  The  stars  in  their  courses  were  fighting  against  Sisera.  “The 
horse  hoofs  were  broken  by  the  prancings  of  the  mighty  ones.”  The  tor¬ 
rent  of  Kishon  was  swollen  by  the  flood;  the  direct  road  to  Harosheth  was 
flooded.  The  Gentiles  were  caught  in  a  cul  de  sac ,  hemmed  in  by  the 
rushing  torrent  of  the  Kishon,  and  with  Barak’s  gallant  ten  thousand 
pressing  their  rear.  The  defeat  was  overwhelming.  Sisera  himself 
escaped  on  foot  from  the  scene  of  carnage,  and  fled  across  the  plain  and 
northward  to  the  oak  of  Zaanaim,  in  the  low  land  near  Kedeshnaphtali. 
There  he  sought  the  solitary  tent  of  Heber,  a  Kenite  Bedouin,  between 
whom  and  himself  there  was  hospitality.  The  bond  of  Arab  hospitality 
did  not  serve  to  save  him.  The  nail  of  Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber,  sank  into 
his  brain  as  he  lay  fast  asleep  and  weary  after  that  bloody  day.  “At  her 
feet  he  bowed,  he  fell,  he  lay  down;  at  her  feet  he  bowed,  he  fell,  where 
he  bowed,  there  he  fell  down  dead.”  In  Harosheth,  the  mother  of  Sisera 
impatiently  awaited  the  coming  of  the  son  she  was  nevermore  to  see. 
She  looked  out  of  her  lattice  dreaming  of  victory.  “Why  is  his  chariot 
so  long  in  coming?”  she  asked;  “why  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariot? 
Have  they  not  sped?  Have  they  not  divided  the  spoil?”  No,  they  had 
not  sped.  Deborah  and  Barak  were  even  then  meditating  the  song  which 
has  made  their  names  immortal,  and  its  closing  words  of  triumph  over 
Sisera  were  these:  “So  let  all  thine  enemies  perish,  O  Lord!”  After  that 
signal  victory,  “the  land  had  rest  forty  years.”  (Judg.  v:  31). 

“History  often  repeats  itself.  Three  thousand  two  hundred  years  had 
passed  and  gone,”  says  Canon  Tristram,  “when  that  plain  saw  a  similar 
battle  between  hosts  almost  as  unequal  in  numbers,  if  not  in  equipment, 
with  an  identical  result.  Little  more  than  four  miles  to  the  northwest,  we 


NAZARETH 


P§1 


BgHRj 


BaiMS 


■mm 

CMM 

HI 


mMtm 


i 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH 


193 


may  detect  a  mound  in  the  plain  on  the  direct  road  to  Nazareth,  covered 
with  ruins,  and  on  the  other  side  of  it  a  small  swamp,  sometimes  lake,  the 
resort  of  wild  fowl,  where  flocks  of  the  stilted  plover  daintily  step.  The 
mound,  with  a  few  huts  behind  it  clustered  round  a  well,  is  known  as  El 
Fiileh,  the  Bean,  and  marks  the  site  of  the  crusading  castle  of  Faba,  an 


DEATH  OF  SISERA.  (JUDGES  IV:  22). 


important  garrison  of  the  Knights  Templar,  the  foundations  of  which  are 
still  plainly  visible.  Round  this  spot,  in  the  beginning  of  April,  1799,  the 
Turks  had  collected  a  vast  army — Mamelukes  from  Egypt,  Janissaries 
from  Damascus,  regulars  from  Aleppo,  with  the  whole  Mohammedan  popu¬ 
lation  of  Syria,  and  countless  hordes  of  Arab  cavalry,  which  even  outnum¬ 
bered  the  foot  levies,  from  the  whole  east  of  Jordan  and  Northern  Arabia 
— for  the  purpose  of  forcing  Napoleon  to  raise  the  siege  of  Acre,  then  held 
by  the  aid  of  Sir  Sydney  Smith.  The  Turkish  general  was  in  the  same 


194 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


position  as  Sisera.  He  was  compelled  to  camp  in  the  plain,  or  at  least  to 
hold  his  cavalry  there  for  the  sake  of  water.  The  little  handful  of  French 
held,  like  Barak,  the  hill  country  of  the  north;  Junot  held  Mount  Tabor 
and  Nazareth;  other  detachments  held  Cana  of  Galilee  and  Safed,  while 
Murat,  with  one  thousand  men,  held  the  bridge  across  the  Jordan,  to  inter¬ 
cept  the  enemy’s  communications.  Kleber  held  the  supreme  command, 
and,  mustering  all  his  troops  at  Nazareth,  marched  as  far  as  Fuleh  to  the 
attack.  Here  he  was  assailed  by  fifteen  thousand  cavalry,  and  as  many 
infantry.  Forming  in  squares,  the  French  were  soon  behind  ramparts  of 
dead  men  and  horses,  till,  after  they  had  held  their  ground  for  six  hours, 
Napoleon,  who  had  been  working  his  way  with  the  besieging  army  from 
before  Acre,  by  the  edge  of  the  southern  hills,  came  suddenly  down  from 
Taanach  and  Megiddo,  and,  by  his  dashing  charges,  decided  the  fate  of  the 
day.  The  Turkish  cavalry  was  driven  into  the  swamps  of  the  head  waters 
of  the  Kishon,  in  which  Sisera’s  chariots  had  stuck  fast,  and  they  then  fled 
toward  Mount  Tabor  and  the  Jordan,  by  the  route  that  Sisera’s  fugitives 
must  have  followed  toward  Harosheth;  but  finding  Murat  holding  the 
bridge,  endeavored  to  ford  the  swollen  Jordan,  in  which  numbers  perished, 
and  the  army,  ‘countless  as  the  sands  of  the  sea,’  was  utterly  dispersed.” 
(Piet.  Pal.  i:  270). 

The  next  great  triumph  of  the  chosen  people,  in  the  Plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  was  that  of  Gideon  against  the  Midianites,  in  which  Israel  was  to 
learn  that  the  Lord  can  save  by  many  or  by  few,  as  is  best  pleasing  to 
Him.  The  Midianitish  tribes  of  the  eastern  side  of  Jordan  had  long  made 
incursions  into  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  had  so  established  themselves 
that  when  the  Israelites  had  raised  and  reaped  their  harvests,  these 
marauders  came  and  carried  off  the  fruits  of  their  toil.  It  was  a  just 
reward  of  the  unfaithfulness  of  Israel,  for  their  land  had  been  polluted 
with  idols,  and  the  altars  of  Baal  were  reared  on  the  high  places  of  Israel. 
Even  on  the  lot  of  Gideon’s  own  inheritance  stood  an  altar  of  the  false 
god,  which  at  God’s  command  he  tore  down,  and  to  him  was  committed 
the  high  task  of  rescuing  the  Israelites  from  the  Midianites.  Over  and 
over  again,  knowing  the  peril  of  his  undertaking,  Gideon  asked  from  God 
a  sign  that  it  was  verily  God  who  called  him,  and  the  sign  was  given  him 
as  he  asked  for  it.  At  length,  with  two  and  thirty  thousand  men,  Gideon 


CHURCH  OF  THE  ANNUNCIATION,  NAZARETH 


V 


. 


- 


f  ■ 


. 


- 

) 

■  •  I 

■  a 


-• 

- 

4 


* 


I 


* 


<• 


- 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH.  197 

encamped  upon  the  northern  slope  of  Mount  Gilboa;  the  Midianites  and 
Amalekites,  with  their  chiefs,  Oreb,  the  Raven,  and  Zeeb,  the  Wolf,  and 
under  their  greatest  chiefs,  Zeba  and  Zalmunna,  encamped  beside  the  hill 
of  Moreh,  in  the  valley.  These  warriors  and  the  “children  of  the  east,”  by 
whom  they  were  accompanied,  “lay  along  in  the  valley  like  grasshoppers 
for  multitude;  and  their  camels  were  without  number,  as  the  sand  of  the 
sea  for  multitude.”  In  spite  of  the  disparity  of  numbers,  Gideon  gave  the 


JENIN,  THE  ANCIENT  EN-GANNIM. 

word  for  every  man  who  was  afraid  to  turn  and  leave  the  host  of  Israel, 
and  two  and  twenty  thousand  cowards  took  him  at  his  word.  Then,  by 
command  of  God,  the  remainder  marched  down  to  the  spring  of  Jezreel, 
and  there  the  eager,  thirsty  throng  rushed  to  the  water  in  unsoldierly  dis¬ 
order,  threw  themselves  upon  their  faces,  and  drank  like  dogs.  Only 
three  hundred  men  showed  the  cool  self-poise  of  resolute  warriors,  drink¬ 
ing  at  their  leisure,  and  by  these  three  hundred  Israel  conquered.  In  the 
dead  of  night,  Gideon  himself  approached  the  camp  of  the  enemy  and 
made  a  personal  reconnaissance.  Then  returning  to  his  chosen  three  hun- 


198 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


dred,  he  armed  them  with  trumpets,  and  lamps  concealed  in  earthen 
pitchers.  In  three  divisions  the  three  hundred  fell  upon  the  camp  of 
Midian,  at  different  points,  blowing  their  trumpets,  breaking  their  pitchers, 
waving  their  flaming  lamps,  and  shouting  out  their  battle  cry,  “The  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon!”  The  Midianites  were  completely  surprised; 
they  supposed  themselves  to  be  surrounded  by  the  army  of  Israel;  in  the 
darkness  and  confusion,  they  turned  their  swords  against  each  other,  and 
presently  betook  themselves  to  flight.  All  Israel  joined  in  hot  pursuit,  the 
Midianites  were  routed  out  of  every  place  they  had  occupied,  and  the  land 
again  had  rest. 

Israel  was  afterward  to  see  a  sadder  sight  on  Mount  Gilboa.  The 
Philistines  had  gathered  strength,  and  leaving  their  own  plain  by  the  sea, 
had  pressed  the  God-forsaken  Saul  back  through  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon. 
Their  tents  were  pitched  at  Shunem;  Saul’s  camp  was  at  Mount  Gilboa. 
But  Saul’s  hope  and  energy  were  gone.  He  knew  that  God  had  left  him. 
Samuel  was  dead,  and  he  had  no  prophet  of  God  to  consult.  The  hapless 
king  then  sought  out  a  witch  with  a  familiar  spirit.  She  was  found  at 
En-Dor,  a  village  situated  on  the  other  side  of  little  Hermon,  about  eight 
miles  from  Saul’s  camp,  and  reputed  to  be  the  place  where  Sisera  had  per¬ 
ished  (Psa.  lxxxiii:  9,  10).  Thither,  in  disguise,  Saul  went  by  night,  and 
at  his  desire  the  woman  called  the  shade  of  Samuel  to  meet  the  king  who 
had  so  often  disobeyed  his  counsels.  “Why,”  the  prophet  asked,  “Why 
hast  thou  disquieted  me  to  bring  me  up?”  Saul,  with  his  face  bowed  to 
the  ground,  mournfully  answered,  “I  am  sore  distressed;  for  the  Philistines 
make  war  against  me,  and  God  is  departed  from  me,  and  answereth  me 
no  more,  neither  by  prophets  nor  by  dreams.  Therefore  have  I  called 
thee,  that  thou  mayest  make  known  unto  me  what  I  shall  do.”  And  then 
he  heard  his  doom  sternly  and  solemnly  pronounced:  “To-morrow  shalt 
thou  and  thy  sons  be  with  me;  the  Lord  also  shall  deliver  the  host  of 
Israel  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines.”  At  this  announcement  of  irre¬ 
trievable  defeat  and  death,  Saul  seems  to  have  fainted.  He  was  worn  out 
with  anxiety;  all  day  he  had  eaten  nothing;  now  all  hope  was  taken  from 
him.  His  followers  compelled  him  to  eat  what  was  perhaps  his  last  meal, 
and  immediately  that  night  they  went  away. 

Next  day  the  prophet’s  saying  was  fulfilled.  Saul’s  sons  died  before 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


199 


him  in  the  battle;  he  himself  was  wounded  by  the  archers  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines.  One  last  disgrace  he  would  not  brook;  he  would  not  die  by  the 
hands  of  his  uncircumcised  enemies.  He  besought  his  armor-bearer  to 
kill  him,  but  the  armor-bearer  would  not  slay  the  Lord’s  anointed.  Then 
Saul  fell  upon  his  own  sword,  and  his  faithful  armor-bearer  fell  likewise 


THE  DEATH  OF  SAUL.  (  I  SAM.  XXXI :  1-6). 


upon  his  sword,  and  died  with  him.  On  the  following  day  the  bodies  of 
Saul  and  his  sons,  and  among  them  that  of  David’s  beloved  friend, 
Jonathan,  were  found  by  the  Philistines.  Saul’s  armor  was  sent  as  a 
trophy  to  the  temple  of  Ashtaroth.  His  body  and  the  bodies  of  his  sons 
were  gibbetted  outside  the  walls  of  Beth-shan  (afterward  Scythopolis,  now 
Beisan)  in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel;  but  that  disgrace  the  brave  men  of  Mount 
Gilead  could  not  bear.  They  went  to  Beth-shan,  took  down  the  mutilated 
bodies  and  gave  them  honorable  sepulture.  Then  it  was  that  David’s  gen- 


200 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


erous  muse  inspired  the  tender  strains  of  his  lament  for  Saul  and  Jonathan. 
“The  beauty  of  Israel,’’ he  sang,  “is  slain  upon  the  high  places,  0  ye  mount¬ 
ains  of  Gilboa!  Tell  it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Ashke- 
lon,  lest  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines  rejoice,  lest  the  daughters  of  the 
uncircumcised  triumph.  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in 
their  lives  and  in  their  death  their  were  not  divided.  Ye  daughters  of 
Israel,  weep  over  Saul,  who  clothed  you  with  scarlet,  who  put  on  orna¬ 
ments  of  gold  upon  your  apparel.  I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother 
Jonathan;  very  pleasant  hast  thou  been  to  me;  thy  love  was  wonderful, 
passing  the  love  of  women.  How  are  the  mighty  fallen,  and  the  weapons 
of  war  perished!" 

Another  terrible  defeat  befell  Israel  in  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  its 
scene  was  that  of  the  former  great  victory  of  Barak  over  Sisera.  Pharaoh 
Necho,  King  of  Egypt,  in  his  march  against  Assyria,  had  come  along  the 
coast  through  the  Plains  of  Philistia  and  Sharon,  and  had  rounded  the 
Cape  of  Carmel,  when  the  good  King  Josiah  unadvisedly  attacked  him. 
Pharaoh  had  no  wish  to  make  war  on  Josiah,  though  he  had  taken  leave  to 
march  through  his  dominions;  but  Josiah  forced  a  battle  at  Megiddo,  and, 
hoping  to  meet  Pharaoh  hand  to  hand  in  the  contest,  he  disguised  himself 
and  entered  the  fray.  He  was  mortally  wounded  by  an  arrow,  at  a  place 
called  Hadad  Rimmon,  and  lived  only  till  he  reached  Jerusalem,  where 
he  died,  the  most  lamented  of  the  kings  of  Judah.  From  the  blow 
received  in  that  fatal  battle  his  kingdom  never  rallied;  and  erelong  it  fell,  a 
helpless  prey,  into  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians  (2  Kings  xxiii:  29,  30; 
2  Chron.  xxxv:  20-24). 

Besides  the  battles  of  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  another  great  battle, 
which  was  fought  near  by,  remains  to  be  spoken  of  elsewhere;  but  pro¬ 
phetic  commentators  have  imagined  that  a  greater  battle  than  all  these  is 
yet  to  be  fought  on  that  historic  field.  For  “ Armageddon  ’  (Rev.  xvi:  16) 
is  nothing  else  than  “the  field  of  Megiddo"  which  has  already  been  a  place 
of  so  much  slaughter.  It  is  rash  to  undertake  to  tell  the  meaning  of 
unfulfilled  prophecies;  no  prophecy  is  of  private  interpretation;  and 
the  Galilean  writer  of  the  Apocalypse,  accustomed  to  behold  that  scene 
of  bloodshed,  might  very  naturally  use  its  name,  in  a  figurative  way, 
to  designate  the  place  of  any  mighty  contest,  temporal  or  spiritual. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH 


201 


It  is  well  worth  while  to  visit  in  imagination,  the  conspicuous  places  of 
the  Plain  of  Esdraelon;  for  beyond  a  doubt,  they  were  familiar  to  our  Sav¬ 
iour’s  eye  throughout  his  early  years,  and  it  is  certain  that  He  not  only  saw 
all  of  them,  but  visited  some  of  them  in  the  course  of  his  ministry.  En-Gan- 
nim ,  for  example  (the  modern  Jenin),  He  must  often  have  passed  through, 
since  it  is  on  the  straight  road  into,  or  out  of  Samaria,  and  it  was  either  at 
or  near  En-Gannim  that  He  healed  the  ten  lepers,  of  whom  but  one  returned 


DEATH  OF  JEZEBEL.  (2  KINGS  IX:  30-37.) 


Item'  dsmm 

WfWm 

Ivmm 

3 

'll 

m 

Ff 

gg| 

'mm 

w; 'W  W: 

to  tell  his  gratitude  (Luke  xvii:  11-20).  Its  name  signifies  the  Spring 
or  Fountain  of  Gardens,  and  indicates  its  former  beauty  and  fertility.  It 
stands  on  the  slope  which  descends  to  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  from  the  hills 
of  Samaria,  and  its  full  perennial  spring  supplies  abundant  water  for  the 
irrigation  of  its  fields  and  gardens.  It  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Issachar, 
but  was  given,  as  a  Levitical  city,  to  the  family  of  Gershom.  In  history  it 


202 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


is  somewhat  doubtfully  recognized  as  the  place  where  Ahaziah,  King  of 
Judah,  was  wounded  to  death  by  Jehu.  He  fled,  we  are  told  (2  Kings  ix: 
27,  28),  by  the  way  of  Beth-Gan,  or  the  House  of  the  Garden  (which  some 
commentators  suppose  to  have  been  En-Gannim),  and  reached  Megiddo, 
where  he  died.  En-Gannim  is  now  a  town  of  some  twenty-five  hundred 
inhabitants,  who  are  all  said  to  be  fanatical,  rude  and  rebellious  Moslems, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  families  of  Christians  of  the  Greek  Church. 

The  bare  and  barren  mountain  ridge  of  Gilboa  has  been  thought,  idly 
and  foolishly,  to  be  blighted  by  the  poetical  apostrophe  of  David,  in  his 
lament  for  Jonathan:  “Ye  mountains  of  Gilboa,  let  there  be  no  dew, 
neither  let  there  be  rain  upon  you,  nor  fields  of  offerings;  for  there  the 
shield  of  the  mighty  is  vilely  cast  away,  the  shield  of  Saul,  as  though  he 
had  not  been  anointed  with  oil !”  Physical  nature  is  not  blighted  by  the 
curses  of  poets  or  prophets.  Poetry  is  imaginative  and  figurative.  Prophecy 
is  spiritual,  and  its  fulfillment  is  spiritual;  it  is  not  fulfilled  in  physical  abor¬ 
tions  or  desolations,  except  so  far  as  spiritual  facts  accomplish  physical 
results.  It  is  the  curse  of  the  sluggard  that  thorns  and  thistles  flourish  in 
the  field  he  will  not  till;  that  they  produce  no  better  harvest  is  the  conse¬ 
quence  of  his  neglect;  but  the  fields  themselves  are  not  cursed,  and  the 
hand  of  the  diligent. can  soon  bring  them  again  into  fruitfulness.  But  no 
culture  will  make  bare  rock  fruitful.  Mount  Gilboa  is  naturally  barren; 
but  it  has  not  been  made  so  by  the  curse  of  David.  The  dew  falls  and  the 
rain  descends  upon  it  as  on  all  the  land  still.  No  part  of  the  land  is  phy¬ 
sically  cursed.  The  elements  of  physical  fruitfulness  are  still  there.  The 
former  and  the  latter  rain  fall  in  their  season.  The  soil  is  rich  and  ready 
to  bring  forth  seed  for  the  sower  and  bread  for  the  eater.  All  that  is 
needed  is  a  good  government  to  make  property  secure,  and  ordinary  dili¬ 
gence  to  use  the  great  physical  advantages  which  are  everywhere  present. 
The  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  for  example,  might  become  one  universal  garden. 
Travelers  are  struck  with  its  extreme  fertility.  The  gigantic  thistles,  the 
luxuriant  herbage,  and  the  exuberant  crops  produced  on  the  few  cultivated 
spots,  show  what  the  rest  might  be,  with  proper  culture.  So  rich  was  it  in 
ancient  times  that  the  tribe  of  Issachar  was  willing  to  submit  to  pay  con¬ 
tinual  tribute  to  the  fierce  marauders  of  the  desert,  rather  than  abandon 
its  pleasant  land.  “He  saw  that  rest  was  good,  and  the  land  that  it  was 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH.  203 

pleasant,  and  bowed  his  shoulder  to  bear,  and  became  a  servant  unto 
tribute,  couching  down,  like  a  strong  ass  under  two  burdens”  (Gen.  xlix: 
T4>  T5)-  What  the  plain  was  then  it  is  still,  so  far  as  the  gifts  of  nature 
are  concerned.  But  now,  as  then,  it  is  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  ma- 


RUINS  OF  JEZREEL. 


rauders,  and  now,  as  then,  there  is  no  strong  government  to  protect  the 
tiller  of  the  ground.  In  time,  it  seems  to  be  as  certain  as  that  time 
goes  on,  that  this  plain  will  bear  more  abundantly  that  ever;  but  Mount 
Gilboa  will  always  be  barren,  as  it  always  has  been,  and  the  curse  of 
David’s  song  will  not  have  caused  its  barrenness. 


204 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


But  a  little  way  from  the  northwestern  end  of  Mount  Gilboa,  and  not 
far  from  the  spring  of  Jezreel,  where  the  thirsty  soldiers  of  Gideon  had 
thrown  themselves  on  their  faces  to  drink,  was  established,  many  years 
afterward,  at  Jezreel,  the  splendid  capital  of  the  magnificent  Ahab,  which 
rivaled,  though  it  did  not  supplant,  the  original  capital  at  Samaria.  It  was 
in  all  respects  superbly  situated,  surrounded  with  fertile  plains,  which  ex¬ 
tended  from  the  Jordan  on  the  east,  to  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west,  and 
from  En-Gannim  on  the  south,  to  Nazareth  on  the  north.  In  the  time  of 
war  it  had  been  proved  to  be  so  strongly  defensible  as  to  have  interposed 
a  barrier  to  the  progress  of  the  conquest  of  the  land  by  Joshua  (Josh, 
xvii:  1 6).  Ahab  was  a  man  of  great  magnificence,  not  by  any  means  incor. 
rigidly  bad,  but  *  misled  by  ambition  and  seduced  by  the  unscrupulous 
savagery  of  his  heathen  wife  Jezebel.  The  gardens  surrounding  his  palace 
were  of  great  extent  and  beauty,  and  it  was  for  the  sake  of  completing  or 
enlarging  them  that  Jezebel  committed  the  atrocious  crime  of  putting 
Naboth  to  death,  under  a  perjured  accusation  (i  Kings xxi:i-i6).  A  grove 
sacred  to  Baal  was  served  by  a  staff  of  idolatrous  priests  (i  Kings  XVP33; 
2  Kings  x:ii),  and  high  above  all  was  the  watch  tower,  from  which  the 
whole  plain  could  be  seen  (2  Kings  ix:  17).  Jezreel,  in  the  time  of  Ahab, 
was  a  place  of  great  luxury  and  magnificence.  It  had  a  winter  palace  and 
a  summer  palace,  one  of  which  was  called  “the  palace  of  ivory”  (1  Kings 
xxii:39),  and  mansions  so  magnificent  as  to  be  called  “houses  of  ivory” 
(Amos  iii :  1 5).  But  the  day  of  vengeance  was  at  hand,  though  Ahab’s 
penitence  secured  a  respite.  At  the  indignant  rebuke  and  the  fearful  doom 
pronounced  against  him  by  Elijah,  the  terror-stricken  king  “rent  his 
clothes,  and  put  sackcloth  on  his  loins,  and  lay  in  sackcloth,  and  went 
softly”  (1  Kings  XXE27);  and  because  he  humbled  himself,  retribution  was 
delayed.  When  he  fell  in  battle  at  Ramoth  Gilead  beyond  the  Jordan,  his 
son  Ahaziah  followed  in  his  evil  ways,  and  did  not  repent.  It  was  he  who 
sent  to  consult  Beelzebub  at  the  Philistine  temple  in  Ekron,  and  whose 
death  Elijah  foretold.  He  was  followed  by  Joram,  an  unworthy  son  of 
an  unworthy  father,  and  then  came  Jehu,  the  Avenger.  Joram  had  been 
wounded  in  battle  with  Hazael,  King  of  Syria,  and  had  gone  to  his  palace 
at  Jezreel  to  recover  his  health,  when  Jehu  was  anointed,  by  a  messenger  of 
Elijah,  to  punish  the  evil  house  of  Ahab,  and  to  found  a  new  dynasty  in 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


205 


the  kingdom  of  Israel.  At  Samaria  he  raised  the  standard  of  revolt  and 
was  proclaimed  king  so  suddenly  that,  before  the  news  could  be  carried  to 
Jezreel,  Jehu  himself  was  there.  From  the  height  of  the  watch  tower  the 
watchman  spied  an  armed  force  approaching  Jezreel.  Messenger  after 
messenger  was  sent  to  inquire  whether  the  strangers  came  on  an  errand  of 
peace,  but  Jehu  detained  them  and  marched  swiftly  on.  At  length,  by  the 


RAISING  OF  THE  WIDOW’S  SON  AT  NAIN.  (LUKE  VII :  I  I  — I  5 . ) 


furious  driving  of  the  chariots,  Joram  perceived  that  it  was  Jehu  who  ap¬ 
proached,  and  at  once,  with  his  guest,  Ahaziah,  King  of  Judah,  went  out  to 
meet  the  enemy.  He  asked,  “Is  it  peace,  Jehu?”  and  tor  answer  was  told 
that  there  could  be  no  peace  so  long  as  his  mother  lived.  Joram,  hearing 
this  answer,  turned  and  fled,  and  an  arrow  from  Jehu’s  bow  killed  him. 
King  Ahaziah  also  fled,  either  by  the  “garden  house”  or  by  the  way  of  En- 
Gannim,  where  he,  too,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  at  Megiddo. 


206 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


Meanwhile  Jezebel  was  preparing  to  meet  Jehu.  She  was  a  woman  of  un¬ 
daunted  courage,  aud  met  her  foeman  with  scorn.  While  he  had  been 
slaughtering  Joram  and  Ahaziah,  she  had  caused  her  tirewomen  to  paint 
her  face  and  adorn  her  head,  and  when  he  entered  Jezreel,  she  looked  out 
at  a  window  and  taunted  him  with  the  fate  of  another  traitor,  Zimri,  who 
had  murdered  his  sovereign.  “Had  Zimri  peace,”  she  asked,  “who  slew 
his  master?”  Jehu  made  no  reply.  “Cast  her  down,”  he  called  to  some  of 
her  servants,  who  stood  near  the  queen.  They  cast  her  down;  the  horses 
trod  her  under  foot;  and  so  they  left  her  dead  in  the  street.  When  they 
returned  to  bury  her,  they  found  that  her  carcass  had  been  eaten  by  the 
dogs  of  Jezreel,  thus  fulfilling  to  the  letter  the  prophecy  of  Elijah,  that 
dogs  should  eat  the  flesh  of  that  cruel  queen  in  “the  portion  of  Jezreel.” 
(2  Kings  ix).  Of  all  the  splendor  of  Ahab’s  city  of  royal  pleasure,  noth¬ 
ing  now  remains  except  a  rude  village  called  Zerin,  heaps  of  ruins  which 
bear  witness  of  its  former  greatness,  and  a  tower  which  is  used  by  trav¬ 
elers  as  a  khan. 

A  little  to  the  north  of  Jezreel  is  the  Hill  of  Moreh ,  now  called  Jebel 
Duhy ,  and  commonly  called  Little  Hermon ,  through  a  misunderstanding  of 
two  passages  in  the  Psalms  (Psa.  xlii :  6 :  cxxxiii:  12).  At  the  foot  of  Little 
Hermon  was  Shunem ,  now  Solane,  on  the  northeast  En-Dor ,  and,  nestling 
on  the  northwest  slope,  was  the  little  city  of  Nain ,  “the  Fair l'  sacred  for¬ 
ever  to  all  Christians,  and  still  known  by  the  same  name  which  is  justified 
by  its  lovely  situation,  though  it  is  now  only  a  squalid  village. 

Here  we  may  anticipate,  by  thirty  years,  the  one  event  which  makes 
Nain  so  sacredly  illustrious.  The  Holy  Child,  whose  footsteps  we  are 
tracing,  had  become  a  man,  had  begun  His  ministry,  and,  journeying 
from  Capernaum,  He  came  to  Nain,  followed  by  His  chosen  companions. 
As  He  approached  the  city  gate,  He  met  a  numerous  and  sorrowful  pro¬ 
cession.  A  young  man  was  being  carried  to  his  grave  beyond  the  gate. 
The  wailing  cries  of  the  mourning  women  might  well  be,  and  perhaps  they 
were,  more  sincerely  uttered  than  they  usually  were  on  such  occasions,  for 
the  dead  man  “was  the  only  son  of  his  mother,  and  she  was  a  widow.”  To 
be  childless  was  held  to  be  the  saddest  fate  that  could  befall  a  woman  of 
Israel;  it  was  even  thought  to  be  a  special  punishment  of  sin;  so  that  this 
widow  was  more  desolate  than  mothers  in  our  time  might  be,  even  in  such 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH.  207 

a  loss.  Her  grief  had  moved  the  hearts  of  many  of  her  neighbors,  for 
“much  people  followed  the  bier.”  When  the  Saviour  saw  her,  He,  too,  was 
moved  with  compassion,  and  perhaps  He  thought  of  what  the  gentle 
prophet,  Elisha,  had  done,  on  the  other  side  of  that  same  mountain,  for  his 
kind  hostess  of  Shunem.  So,  He  came  and  touched  the  bier,  a  most 
unusual  act,  for  according  to  the  Jewish  law,  to  touch  the  bier  of  a  dead 


MOUNT  TABOR. 

body  was  to  be  defiled.  To  Jesus  there  was  no  defilement,  for  He  meant 
to  change  the  bed  of  death  into  a  chariot  of  deathless  triumph.  At  His 
touch,  the  bearers  of  the  dead  stood  still,  and  then  Jesus  simply  said: 
“Young  man,. I  say  unto  thee,  Arise!”  And  he  that  was  dead  sat  up  and 
began  to  speak,  and  Jesus  delivered  him  to  his  mother.  This  was  the  first 
of  those  marvelous  “signs”  by  which  our  Saviour  declared  Himself  to  be 
“the  Resurrection  and  the  Life. 

About  ten  miles  north  of  Little  Hermon  is  Mount  Tabor,  now  called 


208 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


Jcbel  et  Tur ,  or.  Mountain  of  Purity,  which  the  Hebrew  poets  delighted  to 
compare  with  the  noble  head  of  Carmel,  at  the  other  end  of  the  plain.  Thus 
Jeremiah  (xlvi:  i8)puts  this  striking  language  into  the  mouth  of  God  Him¬ 
self:  “As  I  live,  saith  the  King,  Whose  Name  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  surely 
as  Tabor  is  among  the  mountains,  and  as  Carmel  is  by  the  sea,  so  shall 
He  come!”  Dean  Stanley,  speaking  of  these  two  mountains,  gives  a  fine 
description  of  Tabor.  He  says:  “Two  mountains,  the  glory  of  the  tribe  of 
Issachar,  stand  out  among  the  bare  and  rugged  hills  of  Palestine,  and  even 
among  those  of  their  own  immediate  neighborhood,  remarkable  for  the 
verdure  which  climbs — a  rare  sight  in  eastern  scenery — to  their  very  sum¬ 
mits.  One  of  these  is  Tabor.  This  strange  and  beautiful  mountain 
is  distinguished  alike  in  form  and  in  character,  from  all  around  it. 
As  seen,  where  it  is  usually  first  seen  by  the  traveler,  from  the  north¬ 
west  of  the  plain,  it  towers  like  a  dome — as  seen  from  the  east,  like  a 
long  arched  mound — over  the  monotonous  undulations  of  the  surrounding 
hills,  from  which  it  stands  completely  isolated,  except  by  a  narrow  neck  of 
rising  ground,  uniting  it  to  the  mountain  range  of  Galilee.  It  is  not  what 
Europeans  would  call  a  wooded  hill,  because  its  trees  stand  all  apart  from 
each  other.  But  it  is  so  thickly  studded  with  them  as  to  rise  from  the 
plain  like  a  mass  of  verdure.  Its  sides  much  resemble  the  scattered  glades 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  New  Forest.  Its  summit — a  broken  oblong— is  an 
alternation  of  shade  and  greensward,  that  seems  made  for  a  national  fes¬ 
tivity;  broad  and  varied,  and  commanding  wide  views  of  the  plain,  from 
end  to  end.”  Mount  Tabor  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  scene  of  our 
Lord’s  transfiguration,  but  we  shall  hereafter  see  that  the  true  place  of  that 
event  was  far  distant.  The  mountain,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
regarded  as  a  sacred  place  for  many  ages,  and  it  is  probably  “the  moun¬ 
tain”  (Deut.  xxxiii:  19),  to  which,  in  early  ages,  Issachar  and  Zebulon  were 
to  assemble  to  offer  sacrifices.  Be  that  as  it  may,  to  the  beholder  of  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  three  most  prominent  objects  must  always  have 
been  Carmel  on  the  east,  Tabor  on  the  northwest,  and  in  the  distance 
beyond  Tabor,  the  snowy  peak  of  Hermon  gleaming  from  afar. 

All  the  places  which  have  been  named  would  be  visible  to  the  Holy 
Family  from  Jokneam,  and  when  they  had  descended  to  the  plain,  and 
turned  toward  the  hills  which  bound  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon  on  the  north. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH.  209 

almost  in  the  center  of  that  chain  they  would  perceive  a  cleft  in  the  lime¬ 
stone,  forming  the  entrance  to  a  little  valley.  The  view  before  them  then 
would  be  precisely  what  the  traveler  has  before  him  now,  and  we  may  let 
the  pen  of  Archdeacon  Farrar  draw  the  scene.  He  says:  “As  the  traveler 
leaves  the  plain,  he  will  ride  up  a  steep  and  narrow  pathway,  broidered 
with  grass  and  flowers,  through  scenery  which  is  neither  colossal  nor  over¬ 
whelming,  but  infinitely  beautiful  and  picturesque.  Beneath  him,  on  the 
right  hand  side,  the  vale  will  gradually  widen  until  it  becomes  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  breadth.  The  basin  of  the  valley  is  divided  by  hedges 


RUINS  ON  SUMMIT  OF  MT.  TABOR. 

of  cactus,  into  little  fields  and  gardens,  which,  about  the  fall  of  the  spring 
rains,  wear  an  aspect  of  indescribable  calm,  and  glow  with  a  tint  of  the 
richest  green.  Beside  the  narrow  pathway,  at  no  great  distance  apart 
from  each  other,  are  two  wells,  and  the  women  who  draw  water  there  are 
more  beautiful,  and  the  ruddy  shepherd  boys  who  sit  or  play  by  the  well- 
sides,  in  their  gay-colored  oriental  costume,  are  a  happier,  bolder,  brighter- 
looking  race  than  the  traveler  will  have  seen  elsewhere.  Gradually  the 
valley  opens  into  a  little  natural  amphitheater  of  hills,  supposed  by  some  to 
be  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano;  and  there,  clinging  to  the  hollows  of  a 


210 


^HE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


hill,  which  rises  to  the  height  of  some  five  hundred  feet  above  it,  lie,  ‘like 
a  handful  of  pearls  in  a  goblet  of  emerald,’  the  flat  roofs  and  narrow  streets 
of  a  little  eastern  town.  There  is  a  small  church;  the  massive  buildings 
of  a  convent;  the  tall  minaret  of  a  mosque;  a  clear,  abundant  fountain; 
houses  of  white  stone,  and  gardens  scattered  among  them,  umbrageous 
with  figs  and  olives,  and  rich  with  the  white  and  scarlet  blossoms  of  orange 
and  pomegranate.  In  spring,  at  least,  everything  about  the  place  looks 
indescribably  bright  and  soft;  doves  murmur  in  the  trees;  the  hoopoe  flits 
about  in  ceaseless  activity;  the  bright  blue  roller-bird,  the  commonest  and 
loveliest  bird  of  Palestine,  flashes  like  a  living  sapphire  over  fields  which 
are  enameled  with  innumerable  flowers.  And  that  little  town  is  En  Naz- 
iroh ,  Nazareth ,  where  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  Mankind,  spent 
nearly  thirty  years  of  His  mortal  life.  It  was,  in  fact,  His  home,  His 
native  village,  for  all  but  three  or  four  years  of  His  life  on  earth;  the  vil¬ 
lage  which  lent  its  then  ignominious  name  to  the  scornful  title  written  upon 
His  cross;  the  village  from  which  He  did  not  disdain  to  draw  His  appella¬ 
tion  when  He  spake  in  vision  to  the  persecuting  Saul.  And  along  the  nar¬ 
row  mountain  path  which  I  have  described,  His  feet  must  often  have  trod, 
for  it  is  the  only  approach  by  which,  in  returning  northward  from  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  He  could  have  reached  the  home  of  His  infancy,  youth  and  manhood.” 

The  “little  natural  amphitheater,”  of  which  Archdeacon  Farrar  here 
speaks,  must  be  somewhat  more  distinctly  described.  It  is  really  encom¬ 
passed  by  fifteen  gently  rounded  hills,  which,  as  Dr.  Richardson  says,  seem 
to  have  met  to  form  an  inclosure  for  this  peaceful  basin,  rising  around  it 
like  the  edge  of  a  shell,  to  guard  it  from  intrusion.  It  is  a  rich  and  beau¬ 
tiful  field,  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  hills.  Nazareth  stands  on  the 
slope  of  one  of  these  hills  on  the  northwest.  If  we  should  approach  it 
from  the  south  to-day,  we  should  see  in  front  of  us  and  on  the  right  side  a 
small  mosque;  and  behind  that  the  Latin  Monastery  and  Church  of  the 
Annunciation,  with  its  tall  campanile  or  belfry.  The  Latin  Quarter,  how¬ 
ever,  would  be  on  our  left,  and  the  Mahometan  Quarter  would  be  beyond 
the  monastery  on  the  right.  The  Greek  Quarter  lies  further  up  the  hill, 
behind  the  other  two.  The  principal  mosque  is  in  the  center  of  the 
Mahometan  Quarter.  At  the  extreme  left  (the  northwest  angle),  of  the 
Latin  Quarter,  half-way  up  the  hill,  is  the  Maronite  Church.  At  the 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


211 


extreme  right  of  the  Greek  Quarter  are  the  church  and  school  of  the 
Greek  Christians,  and  the  residence  of  their  Bishop.  Behind  all,  and 
above  all,  is  the  English  Protestant  Orphan  House,  where  orphan  children 
of  Nazareth  and  its  vicinity  are  reared  and  educated  for  the  sake  of  Him, 
who  was  once  a  child  in  the  streets  of  Nazareth. 

None  of  these  is  of  any  historical  importance;  but  if  we  should  pass 
to  the  right  of  the  Greek  Bishop’s  house  and  walk  on  for,  say,  three  or  four 
minutes,  we  should  find  ourselves  at  a  spot,  where  undoubtedly  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  her  Son  stood  many  hundreds  of  times.  That  is  the  Fountain 
of  the  Virgin.  To  this  spot  the  women  of  Nazareth  resort  for  water,  as 
they  undoubtedly  did  when  Jesus  was  a  child.  In  his  “Travels”  Dr. 
Clarke  says,  that  if  there  be  a  spot  throughout  the  Holy  Land  that  was 
undoubtedly  honored  by  the  presence  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  we  may  con¬ 
sider  this  to  have  been  the  place;  because  the  situation  of  so  copious  a 
spring  is  not  liable  to  be  changed,  and  because  the  custom  of  repairing 
thither  to  draw  water  has  been  continued  among  the  female  inhabitants  of 
Nazareth  from  the  earliest  period  of  its  history.  The  path  which  leads  to 
it  has  been  trodden  by  the  feet  of  countless  generations,  and  in  its  imme¬ 
diate  vicinity  is  the  gayest  and  busiest  scene  of  the  ancient  town.  The 
water  of  the  Virgin’s  Spring  bursts  out  of  the  ground  within  the  Church  of 
the  Annunciation,  and  as  the  church  itself  is  underground,  the  water  is  led 
past  the  high  altar  to  a  well  which  is  kept  full  for  the  use  of  pilgrims,  and 
thence,  by  a  conduit,  to  an  arched  recess  below  the  church  on  the  hillside. 
There  the  stream  flows  in  spouts,  through  the  wall,  into  a  square  trough  of 
stone,  at  which  a  dozen  persons  can  stand  side  by  side,  and  the  overflow 
makes  a  pool  immediately  beneath,  where  the  women  wash  their  linen,  and 
even  their  children;  “standing  in  the  water,  ankle  deep,  with  their  baggy 
trousers  tucked  between  their  knees,  while  others  coming  for  water  are 
continually  passing  and  repassing  with  their  jars  on  their  heads.” 

Over  the  source  of  the  spring,  and  not  far  above  the  Fountain  of  the 
Virgin,  is  the  Greek  Church  and  Monastery,  dedicated  to  Gabriel,  the 
Angel  of  the  Annunciation,  who  was  sent  of  God  to  announce  to  the  young 
Virgin  that  she  should  bear  a  Son,  who  should  be  called  the  Son  of  the 
Highest,  and  whose  human  name  she  should  call  Jesus  (Luke  1:26-31). 
Of  course,  there  is  not  a  particle  of  historical  evidence  that  the  Angelic 


212 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


Annunciation  took  place  at  or  near  any  particular  spot.  The  fact  of  the 
Annunciation  is  all  that  Holy  Scripture  has  recorded  for  our  learning.  Of 
the  place  of  its  occurrence  we  know  nothing  more  than  that  it  was  at 
Nazareth;  and  we  have  absolutely  no  grounds  on  which  to  rear  a  rational 
conjecture  concerning  it.  The  Greeks  maintain  that  it  took  place  near  the 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  and  the  Latin  monks  as  positively  assert  that  it 
was  in  a  cave  under  their  church.  The  exact  spot  is  pointed  out,  marked 
with  the  inscription,  Hie  Verbum  Caro  Factum  est ;  “Here  the  Word 
became  flesh!” 

We  need  spend  no  time  in  considering  these  legendary  localities  of 
which  there  are  more  than  enough  at  Nazareth.  We  will  not  linger  in  an 
old  cistern  called  “the  Kitchen  of  the  Virgin,”  nor  in  “Joseph’s  workshop,” 
nor  beside  the  Mens  a  Christa ,  or  “Table  of  Christ,”  a  huge  block  of  hard 
chalk  on  which  our  Saviour  is  said  to  have  dined  with  his  disciples;  and 
certainly  we  need  not  discuss  the  strange  story  of  the  Holy  House  of  Lo- 
retto,  though  it  may  be  worth  while  to  tell  at  least  what  that  story  is.  It 
is  affirmed,  then,  that  on  the  ioth  day  of  May,  A.D.  1291,  when  the  house 
formerly  occupied  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  Nazareth,  was  in  danger  of 
being  desecrated  by  the  Mohammedans,  it  was  lifted  bodily  from  its  foun¬ 
dations  and  was  borne,  by  the  hands  of  angels,  through  the  air  to  Tersato, 
near  Fiume,  in  Dalmatia.  It  was  subsequently  carried  in  the  same  way  to 
Loretto,  where  it  now  stands.  It  was  not  until  1471,  that  the  church  de¬ 
clared  this  marvelous  story  to  be  historically  true,  and  it  is  needless  to  say 
that,  though  Protestants  refuse  to  believe  it,  the  Holy  House  of  Mary  at 
Loretto  is  still  frequented  by  many  devout  Roman  Catholic  pilgrims, 

Besides  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  there  is  only  one  spot  in  or  near 
Nazareth  of  any  special  importance,  in  connection  with  the  gospel  history, 
namely,  that  which  has  come  to  be  customarily  called  the  Hill  of  the  Pre¬ 
cipitation.  It  will  be  remembered  (Luke  iv:  16-29),  that  when  our  Saviour 
began  to  preach  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  his  fellow  townsmen  were 
grievously  offended  because  he  intimated  that  prophets  need  not  expect  to 
be  honored  in  their  own  country,  and  that  the  blessing  of  prophecy,  re¬ 
jected  at  home,  finds  acceptance  abroad,  as  when  Elijah  was  sent  to  a 
heathen  woman  of  Sarepta,  and  Elisha  healed  the  leprosy,  not  of  a  son  of 
Israel,  but  of  Naaman,  the  Syrian.  So  furious  were  his  hearers  at  these 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


213 


intimations,  that  they  “rose  up,  and  thrust  Him  out  of  the  city,  and  led 
Him  unto  the  brow  of  the  hill  whereon  their  city  were  built,  that  they 
might  cast  Him  down  headlong.”  “From  these  words,”  says  Stanley,  “most 
readers  imagine  a  town  built  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  from  which 
summit  the  intended  precipitation  was  to  take  place.  This,  however,  is  not 
the  situation  of  Nazareth,  and  yet  the  true  position  is  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  narrative.  Nazareth  is  built  upon  a  mountain,  but  on  the  side, 
not  on  the  top  of  it;  and  the  brow  of  the  mountain  is  not  below  the  city, 


MiAIARlTMf 

(EN’NASIRA).  j. 
After ToMer  with  Addilio  its  by 

Huber. 

'"m 


Ir  g  'Zzmw 

Cuvc  .tC.-u.fci  ofiUf  'll  •?/,  y/v/iMv 


taj  tsc  C-  T  foilisjuap  0? 
Josvjilo 


X-  Cason  no  rrc  of  the.ZaCCrt'Monxxstuy 
2  •  ChurVc  of  tlut  JinnunciiOioro 
3..Jhvttstxi7if  Qwjrclu 
4,  J'rotcstanl' Yin sanctt/i, 

3.  Stjiool  vf  Pro  testa  iif.  Mission, 

V.  Ifoitsd  of  Oie  Prvt<*Gtazit M isnon ary 
JIubcr 

7 •  •  Nimtiay  of  Vue.  FreruJL  6’  uruTrs 
8,  'Jlfausa,  ChrCsti) 

0.  House  ofVicJilufU, 

30.  House  of  Turkish .  (knxmoi* 

21.  llosquA 

Jd!.  JJospitciL  of D?VaHait> 


1 It? 

'"ni'imww 

VStSmcTLMbsqitb 


house 


UfJlifL. 


but  above  it.  There  is  a  cliff  about  thirty  or  forty  feet  high,  in  the  face  of 
the  limestone  rock,  not  far  from  the  Maronite  Convent  already  mentioned, 
which  would  perfectly  correspond  with  the  account  of  the  incident  as  given 
by  St.  Luke,  and  which  is,  in  all  probability,  the  true  scene  of  the  at¬ 
tempted  precipitation.”  Standing  in  imagination  on  the  spot  of  that  scene 
of  murderous  excitement,  one  must  needs  marvel  at  the  quietude  of  Christ, 
and  at  the  triumph  of  peace  over  the  tumult  of  his  enemies.  While  the 
crowd  swayed  to  and  fro  and  sought  to  hurry  Him  along  to  the  intended 
place  of  murder,  He  was  so  calm  and  peaceful  that  they  lost  sight  of  Him 
altogether;  and  then  “passing  through  the  midst  of  them,  He  went  His 

I” 

way! 


214 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


There  is  little  reason  to  wonder  at  the  general  disrepute  of  Nazareth 
in  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  It  was  not  merely  classed  with  other  parts  of 
Galilee  on  account  of  a  rude  provincial  dialect,  or  the  uncultivated  manners 
of  a  peasant  population.  It  was  despised  even  by  other  Galileeans;  it  was 
a  Galileean  who  asked,  “Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?’ 
(John  1:46).  In  the  life  of  Jesus  we  have  more  than  one  incident  which 
goes  to  prove  the  hostility  of  the  Nazarenes  at  least  to  Him.  They  ex¬ 
pelled  Him  twice  from  their  city  (Luke  iv:  16-29;  Matt,  xiii  156-58);  once 
they  sought  to  take  his  life;  they  were  so  unbelieving  that  He  could' do  no 
miracles  among  them  (Matt,  xiii :  58),  and  at  last,  He  was  compelled  to 
quit  the  home  of  His  childhood  and  His  youth,  and  to  take  up  His  abode  in 
Capernaum  (Matt,  iv:  13)  A  people  so  unruly  and  violent  in  their  treat¬ 
ment  of  One  who  had  dwelt  for  many  years  among  them,  was,  in  all  proba¬ 
bility,  characterized  by  general  rudeness  and  brutality  of  behaviour,  and 
hence  the  proverb,  “Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?” 

It  would  be  unjust  to  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  all  the  places  on  earth, 
if  we  were  not  to  mention  the  grand  scene  which  opens  to  the  view  from 
the  summit  of  the  hill  of  Nazareth.  Perhaps  one  of  the  very  best  descrip¬ 
tions  of  it,  given  by  any  traveler,  is  that  of  Dr.  Robinson.  He  says:  “I 
walked  out  alone  to  the  top  of  the  hill  over  Nazareth,  where  stands  the 
neglected  Wely  of  Neby  Ishma’il.  Here,  quite  unexpectedly,  a  glorious 
prospect  opened  on  the  view.  The  air  was  perfectly  clear  and  serene,  and 
I  shall  never  forget  the  impression  I  received  as  the  enchanting  panorama 
burst  suddenly  upon  me.  There  lay  the  magnificent  Plain  of  Esdraelon, 
or  at  least  all  its  western  part;  on  the  left  was  seen  the  round  top  of  Tabor 
over  the  intervening  hills,  with  portions  of  the  Little  Hermon  and  Gilboa, 

and  the  opposite  mountains  of  Samaria,  from  Zerin  (Jezreel)  westward  to 

«  _  ' 

the  lower  hills,  extending  toward  Carmel.  Then  came  the  long  line  of 

Carmel  itself,  with  the  Convent  of  Elias  on  its  northern  end,  and  Haifa  on 

the  shore  at  its  feet. 

“In  the  west  lay  the  Mediterranean,  gleaming  in  the  morning  sun; 
seen  first,  far  in  the  south,  on  the  left  of  Carmel;  then  interrupted  by  that 
mountain;  and  again  appearing  on  its  right,  so  as  to  include  the  whole  Bay 
of  Akka,  and  the  coast  stretching  far  north  to  a  point  north  ten  degrees 
west.  Akka  (Acre)  was  not  visible,  being  hidden  by  the  intervening  hills. 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH 


215 


Below,  on  the  north,  was  spread  out  another  of  the  beautiful  plains  of 
Northern  Palestine,  called  El  Buttauf;  it  runs  from  east  to  west,  and  its 
waters  are  drained  off  westward  through  a  narrower  valley  to  the  Kishon 
at  the  base  of  Carmel. 

“On  the  southern  border  of  this  plain  the  eye  rested  on  a  large  village, 
near  the  foot  of  an  isolated  hill,  with  a  ruined  castle  on  the  top;  this  was 


THE  ANNUNCIATION.  (LUKE  I:  26-38). 

Seffurieh,  the  ancient  Sepphoris,  or  Diocsesarea.  Beyond  the  Plain  of 
Buttauf,  long  ridges  running  from  east  to  west  rise,  one  higher  than 
another,  until  the  Mountains  of  Safed  overtop  them  all,  on  which  that 
place  is  seen,  ‘a  city  set  upon  a  hill.’  Farther  toward  the  right  is  a  sea  of 
hills  and  mountains,  backed  by  the  higher  ones  beyond  the  Lake  of 
Tiberias,  and  in  the  northeast  by  the  majestic  Hermon,  with  its  icy  crown. 
“Seating  myself  in  the  shade  of  the  wely,  I  remained  for  some  hours 


2l6 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


upon  this  spot,  lost  in  the  contemplation  of  the  wide  prospect,  and  of  the 
events  connected  with  the  scenes  around.  In  the  village  below,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world  had  passed  His  childhood;  and,  although  we  have  few 
particulars  of  His  life  during  those  early  years,  yet  there  are  certain  fea¬ 
tures  of  nature  which  meet  our  eyes  now,  just  as  they  once  met  His.  He 
must  often  have  visited  the  fountain  near  which  we  had  pitched  our  tent; 
His  feet  must  frequently  have  wandered  over  the  adjacent  hills;  and  His 
eyes,  doubtless,  have  gazed  upon  the  splendid  prospect  from  this  very  spot. 

“Here  the  Prince  of  Peace  looked  down  upon  the  great  plain,  where 
the  din  of  battles  so  oft  had  rolled,  and  the  garments  of  the  warrior  been 
dyed  in  blood;  and  he  looked  out,  too,  upon  that  sea,  over  which  the  swift 
ships  were  to  bear  the  tidings  of  his  salvation  to  nations,  and  to  continents 
then  unknown.  How  has  the  moral  aspect  of  things  been  changed!  Bat¬ 
tles  and  bloodshed  have,  indeed,  not  ceased  to  desolate  this  unhappy 
country,  and  gross  darkness  now  covers  the  people;  but  from  this  region  a 
light  went  forth,  which  has  enlightened  the  world  and  unveiled  new  climes; 
and  now,  the  rays  of  that  light  begin  to  be  reflected  back  from  distant 
isles  and  continents,  to  illuminate  anew  the  darkened  land  where  it  first 
sprung  up.” 

Returning  into  Nazareth  and  observing  that  it  is  not  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  we  conclude  that,  even  supposing  it  to  have 
extended  in  ancient  times  further  up  the  hill  than  it  now  does,  it  can  never 
have  been  much  larger  than  now,  nor  can  it  have  had  a  much  larger  popu¬ 
lation.  At  present  the  number  of  inhabitants  is  about  six  thousand,  of 
whom  about  1,000  are  Latins,  2,000  are  Mahometans,  and  the  rest  are 
Greeks.  Excepting  the  comparatively  broad  market-place,  which  extends 
in  a  kind  of  an  elbow,  almost  through  the  city,  the  streets  are  only  from  six 
to  ten  feet  in  width;  they  are  roughly  paved,  and  have  a  gutter  or  sewer, 
which  is  said  to  be  seldom  clean,  running  through  the  middle.  The  houses, 
like  that  of  the  “wise  man”  (Matt,  xii:  24,  25;  Luke  vi:  48),  are  all  founded 
on  the  rock.  However  deep  the  builder  may  be  obliged  to  dig  to  reach  it, 
no  other  foundation  than  the  virgin  rock  contents  the  Nazarene.  The 
shops,  as  usual  at  the  East,  are  small  and  low,  and  the  merchant  sits  cross- 
legged  within  or  at  the  door.  In  like  manner  the  craftsmen  ply  their  sev¬ 
eral  trades,  always  seated,  if  it  be  possible,  either  at  their  doors  or  in  the 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH 


217 


street.  Most  of  the  old-fashioned  tools  are  still  in  use;  but  in  carpenters’ 
shops  the  modern  innovation  of  a  work  bench  has  been  introduced,  so  that 
the  carpenter  stands  at  his  work,  instead  of  sitting  with  his  plank  on  his 
lap,  as  it  is  possible  that  Joseph  the  carpenter  did  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago.  The  dwellings  are  as  elsewhere  at  the  East,  and  are  not  cumbered 
with  much  furniture.  Without  are  sunshine,  and  birds,  and  vines  upon  the 


HILL  OF  THE  PRECIPITATION,  NAZARETH. 


walls;  within,  along  the  walls  are  ranged  the  family  utensils,  and  water 
jars,  and  the  mats  or  quilts  which  serve  as  shelves  by  day  and  as  beds  at 
night.  From  the  low  roof  hangs  a  lamp,  and  somewhere  at  hand  is  a 
stool  on  which  the  tray,  bearing  the  family  meal,  is  set.  This  is  the  only 
dining  table;  and  when  dinner  is  over,  and  the  hands  have  been  washed 
with  water  poured  over  them  into  a  basin  by  one  of  the  children,  the 


218 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


remains  of  the  simple  meal  of  rice  and  meat,  and  fresh  or  stewed  fruits, 
are  quickly  borne  away. 

If  we  would  conceive  the  daily  life  of  the  Child  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  of 
which  the  evangelists  have  told  us  so  little,  we  must  conceive  it  to  have 
been  led  in  some  such  lowly,  flat-roofed  cottage  of  Nazareth,  and  in  some 
such  simple  way  as  this.  “It  is  written,”  says  Luther,  “that  a  pious  and 
godly  bishop  used  often  to  pray  that  God  would  reveal  to  him  what  Jesus 
had  done  in  his  youth.  And  once  he  had  a  dream,  in  which  he  seemed  to 
see  a  carpenter  working  at  his  craft,  and  beside  him  was  a  little  boy  gath¬ 
ering  up  the  chips.  Then  there  entered  a  maiden  clad  in  green,  and  called 
them  to  their  meal,  and  set  porridge  before  them.  All  this  time  the  bishop 
looked  on  from  behind  the  door,  not  wishing  to  be  seen;  but  the  little  lad 
saw  him,  and  said:  ‘Why  does  the  man  stand  there?  Is  he  not  to  eat  with 
us?’  And  then  the  bishop  was  frightened,  and  he  awoke  from  his  dream.” 
Whether  this  be  a  fable  or  a  true  story,”  says  Luther,  “I  believe  that 
Christ,  when  He  was  a  child  and  a  boy,  looked  and  behaved  like  other 
children,  in  fashion  like  a  man,  yet  without  sin.” 

On  the  Sabbath  day,  the  Holy  Family  would  doubtless  wend  their  way 
through  the  narrow  streets  into  the  broader  market-place,  where  on  other 
days  the  children  sat  and  played,  or  sang,  and  piped,  and  danced  with  each 
other  (Matt,  xi:  1 6,  17).  On  the  Holy  Day,  all  would  be  comparatively 
still,  and  the  more  devout  among  the  people  would  resort  to  the  synagogue, 
which,  in  all  probability,  then  stood,  as  it  still  does,  beside  the  market,  and 
almost  in  the  center  of  the  town.  We  know  nothing  of  its  architecture, 
and  it  is  beyond  our  purpose  to  describe  the  forms  and  customs  of  syna¬ 
gogue  worship;  but  it  was  there  that  for  thirty  years  of  His  life,  while  He 
was  growing  in  wisdom  and  in  stature  (Luke  ii:  52)  that  Jesus  worshiped 
every  Sabbath  day.  There,  or  near  by,  He  attended  the  school  of  the 
synagogue,  without  which  a  Jewish  town  was  held  to  be  accursed.  Josephus 
boasts  of  the  zeal  for  education,  which  his  people  exhibited.  “We  interest 
ourselves,”  he  says,  “more  about  the  education  of  our  children  than  about 

anything  else . If  you  ask  a  Jew  any  question  concerning  his  law,  he 

can  explain  it  to  you  more  readily  than  he  can  tell  his  own  name.  We 
learn  it  from  the  beginning  of  intelligence;  it  is  graven,  as  it  were,  upon 
our  souls.” 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


219 


No  credence  whatever  is  to  be  given  to  the  stories  of  the  infancy  and 
youth  of  Christ,  which  are  narrated  in  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  They  are 
destitute  of  all  authority;  they  are  mostly  trivial;  some  of  them  are  merely 
tales  of  oriental  magic;  some  of  them  are  clearly  profane.  The  best  of 
them  is  undoubtedly  this:  “In  the  month  of  Adar,  Jesus  assembled  the 
boys  (of  Nazareth)  as  if  He  were  their  king.  They  strewed  their  garments 
on  the  ground,  and  He  sat  upon  them.  Then  they  put  upon  His  head  a 
crown,  wreathed  of  flowers,  and  stood  in  order  before  Him,  on  His  right 


FOUNTAIN  OF  MARY  AT  NAZARETH. 


hand  and  on  His  left,  like  courtiers  waiting  on  a  king.  And  whoever  passed 
by,  the  boys  took  him  by  force,  and  cried:  ‘Come  hither  and  worship  the 
King,  and  then  proceed  on  thy  way.’  ”  Very  different  from  this  innocent 
story,  which  might  conceivably  be  true  of  any  lad  who  was  popular  among 
his  playmates,  is  the  magical  tale  of  his  putting  different  garments  into  one 
and  the  same  dyeing  vat,  and  then  withdrawing  them  dyed  severally  of 
different  colors,  as  He  chose  that  they  should  be;  or  that  of  His  making 
birds  of  clay,  with  His  companions,  and  then,  at  a  word,  causing  them  to 
fly  off  alive.  Utterly  repulsive  and  pernicious  is  that  of  His  striking  His 


<220 


THE  PLAIN  OF  ESDRAELON  AND  NAZARETH. 


playmates  dead,  with  a  curse,  when  they  offended  Him,  and  thereby  incur¬ 
ring  such  general  hatred,  that  His  was  mother  compelled  to  keep  Him  at  home. 

Unspeakably  more  simple  and  sublime  is  the  silence  of  the  four  evan¬ 
gelists,  who  tell  us  merely  the  name  of  the  retired  and  lovely  place  of 
Christ’s  youth,  and  there  leave  Him  in  the  hands  of  the  appointed  and 
holy  pair,  to  whom  He  was  “subject”  (Luke  ii:  51).  To  them,  more  than 
to  all  others,  He  owed  whatever  education  He  received;  and  we  may  not 
doubt  that  Mary,  who  had  pondered  in  her  heart  (Luke  ii:  19)  so  many 
marvelous  and  sacred  things  concerning  Him,  was  His  best  teacher.  There 
is  no  superstition  in  calling  her,  as  the  angel  did,  the  “Blessed”  Virgin; 
nor  can  we  find  fitter  words  to  clothe  our  thoughts  concerning  her,  than  those 
of  the  stanch  Protestant  poet,  William  Wordsworth,  in  his  famous  sonnet: 

“Mother!  whose  virgin  bosom  was  uncrossed 

With  the  least  shade  or  thought  to  sin  allied; 

Woman!  above  all  women  glorified; 

Our  tainted  nature’s  solitary  boast; 

Purer  than  foam  on  central  ocean  toss’d; 

Brighter  than  eastern  skies  at  daybreak  strewn 
With  fancied  roses,  than  the  unblemished  moon, 

Before  her  wane  begins,  on  heav’n’s  blue  coast; 

Thy  image  falls  to  earth.  Yet  some,  I  ween, 

Not  unforgiven,  the  suppliant  knee  might  bend, 

As  to  a  visible  Power,  in  whom  did  blend 

All  that  was  mix’d  and  reconciled  in  thee 
Of  mother’s  love  with  maiden  purity, 

Of  high  with  low,  celestial  with  terrene!” 

In  quietness  and  peace;  in  home  love  and  devout  associations;  in  the 
least  frequented  of  the  towns  of  Galilee;  amid  the  loveliest  scenes  of 
nature,  which  supplied  Him  afterward  with  themes  for  many  a  parable;  in 
full  view  of  historic  places,  where  the  brave  had  battled,  where  the  might¬ 
iest  had  fallen,  and  the  awful  messages  of  prophets  had  been  borne  from 
hill  to  hill,  and  from  vale  to  vale;  leading  a  life  of  innocence  and  industry, 
and  winning  favor  from  both  God  and  man;  so  were  the  childhood  and 
youth  of  Jesus  passed — we  know  nothing  more  concerning  it.  When  the 
blossom  was  full-blown  and  ready  to  bear  its  predestined  fruit,  then  “the 
Life  was  manifested.”  Until  then  it  bloomed  in  silence  and  seclusion,  hid¬ 
den  on  the  hillside  of  Nazareth. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 

Silence  of  the  Evangelists  concerning  the  Childhood  of  Christ — One  Incident  Preserved  by  St.  Luke — 
Jewish  Theories  of  Human  Maturity — Educational  Value  of  the  Passover  Journey — Songs  of  the 
Pilgrimage — Routes  from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem — Crossings  of  the  Jordan — The  Jordan — The 
Ghor — Descent  of  the  Jordan  by  Lieutenant  Lynch — Flora  and  Fauna — Mount  Gilead — View 
From  Its  Highest  Peaks— Jacob  and  Laban — Sihon  and  Og — Tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad — Their 
Pastoral  Life — Their  Hospitality  to  Saul — Saul’s  Sons  and  David — Birthplace  of  Elijah — Story  of 
Jephthah — Battle  with  the  Ephraimites  — Shibboleth — Death  of  Jephthah — Decapolis — Gadara — 
Cure  of  the  Demonicas— Jabesh — Slaughter  of  the  Benjamites — Seizure  of  the  Maidens  at  Shiloh 
— Recovery  of  Saul’s  Body  from  the  Philistines — Pella,  the  Refuge  of  the  Christians  at  the  Siege 
of  Jerusalem — Mahanaim — Gerasa,  a  Perfect  Roman  City — Peniel — Succoth — The  Plain  of  Jor¬ 
dan — Beth-nimrah — Why  Called  Bethabara — The  Crossing  of  Israel  Under  Joshua — The  Cross¬ 
ing  of  Elijah — The  Place  of  John’s  Baptism — Pisgah — Nebo — The  View  of  Moses — Cities  of  the 
Plain — How  Destroyed — Death  and  Burial  of  Moses — Sacredness  of  Jordan — Bathing  of  the  Pil¬ 
grims. 


W 


E  MAY  indulge  our  fancy  to  an 
unlimited  extent  in  picturing  to 
ourselves  the  daily  course  and  the 
probable  circumstances  of  the  child¬ 
hood  of  our  Saviour;  but  it  is  remarka¬ 
ble  how  lightly,  not  to  say  carelessly, 
the  evangelists  have  passed  over  that 
interesting  period  of  His  life. 

St.  Matthew  gives  a  rigidly  cir¬ 
cumstantial  account  of  the  Annuncia¬ 
tion,  incarnation  and  nativity  of  Jesus, 
tells  of  the  murder  of  the  Holy  Inno¬ 
cents,  relates  in  a  few  lines  the  bare 
fact  of  the  flight  into  Egypt  and  of 
a  rapid  in  the  jordan.  the  return  to  Nazareth,  and  then, 

without  a  word  concerning  the  divine  Child,  he  passes  over  nearly  thirty 
rich  and  fruitful  years,  to  the  time  when  John  the  Baptist  “came  preaching 
in  the  wilderness.” 

St.  Mark  begins  his  story  with  these  words:  “The  beginning  of  the 


221 


222 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  as  it  is  written  in  the  prophets, 
‘The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord, 
make  His  paths  straight.'  John  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness.”  Not  one 
word  of  the  birth,  the  childhood  or  the  youth  of  Christ!  St.  Mark’s  first 
mention  of  the  Saviour  is  when  he  tells  of  the  coming  of  Jesus  to  John’s 
baptism  at  thirty  years  of  age. 

St.  John,  too,  wholly  overlooks  our  Saviour’s  early  days  on  earth,  and 
never  hints  that  they  were  of  the  least  significance.  “In  the  beginning  was 
the  Word,”  he  says;  then  he  tells  Who  and  and  What  the  Word  was,  and 
that  It  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us;  and  then,  like  St.  Mark,  he 
passes  over  everything  else  until  the  time  when  “a  man  was  sent  from  God 
whose  name  was  John.” 

St.  Luke  has  saved  for  us  a  single  incident  of  all  those  hidden  years. 
“When  the  moon  is  in  crescent,”  says  Dr.  Farrar,  “a  few  bright  points  are 
visible  through  the  telescope  upon  its  unilluminated  part;  those  bright  points 
are  mountain  peaks,  so  lofty  that  they  catch  the  sunlight.  One  such  point 
of  splendor  and  majesty  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  otherwise  unknown  region 
of  Christ’s  youthful  years !  That  is  His  journey  to  Jerusalem  at  twelve 
years  of  age.” 

It  was  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  Jewish  rabbis  that,  before  the  age 
of  twelve,  children  have  only  an  animal  life;  that  about  that  age  they 
begin  to  have  spiritual  natures;  and  that  if  they  live  virtuously  until  the 
age  of  twenty,  they  then  become  possessed  of  reasonable  souls.  Whether 
or  not  this  curious  doctrine  prevailed  extensively,  it  is  certain  that  the  age 
of  twelve  years  brought  many  privileges  to  the  Jewish  boy.  He  was  no 
longer  regarded  or  treated  as  a  mere  child;  it  was  no  longer  in  his  father’s 
power  to  sell  him  as  a  slave;  he  was  allowed  to  wear  the  phylacteries  of  a 
grown  man;  he  was  publicly  presented  by  his  father  in  the  synagogue  as  a 
true  son  of  Israel;  but,  above  all,  it  was  at  once  his  duty  and  his  happy 
privilege  to  join  one  of  the  companies  of  pilgrims  which  went  every  year 
to  celebrate  the  passover  at  the  Holy  City.  Our  Saviour  was  “made 
under  the  law,”  and  one  object  of  St.  Luke  in  recording  this  solitary  inci¬ 
dent  in  the  child-life  of  Jesus  may  have  been  to  show  how  early  He  began 
to  set  an  example  of  obedience  to  the  law  to  which  He  had  submitted. 
But  there  may  have  been  another  reason  for  the  record  of  this  one 


V  0m 

'-{I . 


P5  BM 


'  "I  II  'Vr-llli^i'll'l!  '’I? r  I1' 1  i'l 

^ftsiy,|7Aii,ii 


L  '  •  V 

K 


i  r'M  ,? imidbv *,n  ;|1  i 

ill  fl1  'fell 


i/'l VM/.t'yJ  i'i|ff|V|ll|(i|li'i 

MI 


rifiiiiiiSE 


ipB 


!!'  iSm 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


225: 


event.  These  yearly  journeys  were  not  made  for  pleasure  only,  nor  only 
for  the  purpose  of  religious  observance.  To  all,  perhaps,  but  certainly  to 
the  young,  they  were  of  surpassing  educational  value;  and  this  particular 
journey  will  appear  to  be  ot  very  great  importance  in  the  life  of  Christ,  if 
we  consider  it  as  the  only  fact  in  the  education  of  Jesus  which  has  been 
made  known  to  us. 


It  would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  value  ol  such  a  journey  in 
forming  the  mind,  and  warming  the  heart  of  a  young  Israelite.  Through- 


REMAINS  OF  GADARA  (UM-KEIS). 


out  the  year,  it  was  sure  to  be  the  one  event  to  which  his  memory  looked 
back,  and  his  imagination  forward.  When  the  spring-time  came,  and  the 
family  preparations  had  been  made,  the  elders  of  the  house  would  think, 
with  mingled  smiles  and  tears,  of  friends  with  whom  their  early  journeys 
had  been  made,  and  they  would  talk  of  incidents  that  then  befell,  when 
life  was  young  and  hopes  were  yet  unblighted.  But  to  the  young  such 
thoughts  v/ere  yet  far  off,  and  it  would  be  with  swelling  hearts  that  they 
would  set  their  faces  toward  Jerusalem.  Every  day  they  would  pass  by 
the  scene  of  some  event  famous  in  the  history  of  Israel,  and  from  day  to 


226 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


day  they  would  compute  their  progress  to  the  Holy  City.  The  elasticity 
of  youth  would  make  no  reckoning  of  weariness  or  hardship,  when  they 
knew  that  they  were  nearing  Zion;  and  when,  after  days  of  travel,  they  at 
length  stood  on  the  crest  of  one  of  the  surrounding  hills,  and  saw  the 
glorious  fabric  of  the  temple  rising  in  its  majesty  on  Mount  Moriah,  we 
may  conceive  the  joy  with  which  the  young  Jew  would  exclaim,  “Jerusalem! 
Jerusalem!”  No  one  would  then  think  of  weariness  or  hardship;  not  the 
young  Jew,  certainly,  when  he  joined  in  singing  the  old  song  of  the  Pil¬ 
grim  Psalmist,  which  was  even  then  ever  so  many  centuries  old: 

I-was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me,  We  will  go  into  the  House  of  the  Lord. 

Our  feet  shall  stand  in  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem  is  built  as  a  city  that  is  at  unity  in  itself. 

For  thither  the  tribes  go  up,  even  the  tribes  of  the  Lord,  to  testify  unto  Israel,  to 
give  thanks  unto  the  Name  of  the  Lord. 

For  there  is  the  seat  of  Judgment,  even  the  seat  of  the  house  of  David. 

O  pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem;  they  shall  prosper  that  love  thee. 

Peace  be  within  thy  walls,  and  plenteousness  within  thy  palaces. 

For  thy  brethren  and  companions’  sakes  I  will  wish  thee  prosperity. 

Yea,  because  of  the  House  of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will  seek  to  do  thee  good! 

After  that  there  would  be  days  of  rest  and  quiet,  spent  in  the  Holy 
City  and  its  neighborhood,  in  daily  visits  to  the  Temple,  and  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Passover,  which  was,  of  course,  the  central  purpose  of  their 
pilgrimage.  The  solemn  grandeur  of  the  vested  priests,  attended  by  their 
train  of  surpliced  Levites,  at  the  offering  of  the  daily  sacrifice,  while  the 
full  procession  of  singing  men  proudly  led  the  way,  chanting  the  psalms 
of  David;  the  majestic  fabric  of  the  Holy  Temple;  its  broad  courts,  its 
lofty  pinnacles,  its  smoking  altars;  its  thronging  multitudes  of  eager  wor¬ 
shippers;  how  solemn  an  impression  must  these  sights  and  sounds  have 
made  upon  the  minds  of  peasants,  whose  only  glimpses  of  the  beautiful  in 
art  and  the  magnificent  in  worship  were  enjoyed  during  these  visits  to  the 
shrine  of  God!  And  when  the  last  tones  of  the  High  Priest’s  chanted 
blessing  died  away  on  the  last  day  of  this  delightful  sojourn  of  the  pilgrims 
from  afar,  surely  the  feelings  of  a  pious  young  Israelite,  might  well  be 
voiced  in  the  regretful  tenderness  of  the  eighty-fourth  psalm; 

O,  how  amiable  are  Thy  dwellings,  Thou  Lord  of  Hosts! 

Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  Thy  House;  they  will  alway  be  praising  Thee. 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA.  227 

One  day  in  Thy  courts  is  better  than  a  thousand. 

I  had  rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the  House  of  my  God,  than  to  dwell  in  tents  of 
ungodliness. 

And,  when  standing  once  again,  upon  the  hill-top,  whence  he  took  his 
last,  long,  lingering  look  at  the  City  of  God,  his  latest  utterance  must  have 
been  in  words  like  these: 

If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning! 

If  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  mv  mouth;  yea,  if 
I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  in  my  mirth! 

What,  though  in  after  years,  the  young  Jew  journeyed  in  distant  lands, 
and  heard  the  old 
faith  of  his  fathers 
sneered  at,  the  cos¬ 
mogony  of  Moses 
scouted,  his  chro¬ 
nology  derided, the 
grand  ceremonies 
of  his  worship  ridi¬ 
culed,  the  Psalms 
of  David  parodied, 
the  predictions  of 
the  prophets  cold¬ 
ly  disproved?  Nay 
suppose  the  worst; 
suppose  his  own 
mind  to  have  be¬ 
come  unsettled,  so 
that  he  himself, 
came  to  believe  RIVER  BIRDS  OF  THE  Jordan. 

but  little  of  the  faith  in  which  he  had  been  reared.  Still,  in  every  best  hour 
of  his  life,  the  heart  would  speak  the  language  of  his  youth.  Elis  brain 
might  go  wrong  a  thousand  times;  but  whenever  his  heart  bounded  in 
gladness  or  sank  down  in  gloom,  it  must  have  turned  to  those  scenes  of  his 
earlier  and  better  years,  where  all  the  music  of  his  life  received  its  key. 
Then,  very  often,  we  may  well  believe,  the  wrong  head  would  yield  to  the 
enlightened  heart,  for  it  is  with  the  heart  after  all,  and  above  all,  that  a  man 


228 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


believeth  unto  righteousness;  and  then  again,  one  of  the  pilgrim  songs  would 
come  back  to  him: 

I  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills  from  whence  cometh  my  help. 

My  help  cometh  even  from  the  Lord,  who  hath  made  heaven  and  earth. 

But  in  thinking  of  the  purpose  of  the  yearly  journey  to  Jerusalem,  we 
have  almost  lost  sight  of  its  beginning.  Returning,  then,  to  Nazareth,  we 
may  ask  by  what  route  the  pilgrim  band  would  journey  to  the  Holy  City? 
The  shortest  road,  of  course,  would  lie  straight  across  the  Plain  of  Es  • 
draelon  to  En-Gannim,  and  thence  through  Samaria  and  Judea  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem;  but  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  this  route  was  ever  taken  by  pilgrims. 
There  was  deadly  hatred,  and  not  merely  dislike,  between  the  Jews  and  the 
Samaritans  in  our  Lord's  time;  and,  although  travel  through  the  province 
of  Samaria  was  not  forbidden  to  the  Jews,  yet  the  sight  of  thousands  of 
pilgrims  marching  to  the  ceremonies  of  a  rival  religion,  would  be  likely  to 
excite  angry,  and  even  murderous  feelings  in  the  Samaritans.  Not  much 
more  than  fifty  years  after  the  journey  we  are  now  seeking  to  trace,  a 
band  of  pilgrims  from  Galilee,  which  did  attempt  to  pass  through  Samaria, 
was  slaughtered  at  En-Gannim  by  the  infuriated  Samaritans.  This  would 
hardly  have  happened,  if  it  had  been  customary  for  the  Galilean  pilgrims 
to  take  that  road  to  Jerusalem;  but  such  an  innovation  would  be  sure  to  be 
fiercely  resented.  For  these  reasons,  the  route  through  Samaria  does  not 
seem  likely  to  have  been  taken  on  this  occasion.  Another  route  across  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon  to  Jokneam,  and  thence  along  the  Plain  of  Sharon  to 
Antipatris  or  Lydda,  would  bring  them  to  a  high  road  to  Jerusalem;  but, 
unless  for  some  particular  reason,  so  circuitous  a  route  would  hardly  be 
chosen.  The  most  natural  and  easy  road  would  consequently  be  to  the 
river  Jordan,  traveling  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  until  they  had  passed 
the  southern  boundary  of  Samaria,  and  then  continuing  their  journey  on 
either  side  until  they  came  to  the  Plain  of  Jordan,  properly  so-called,  when 
they  would  turn  westward  by  Jericho  to  Jerusalem.  This  route,  therefore, 
we  may  assume  to  have  been  taken. 

But  at  what  point  would  they  reach  and  cross  over  the  Jordan?  The 
nearest  and  most  direct  way,  would  be  to  go  down  from  their  native  hills, 
into  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  march  southward  past  the  little  town  of 
Shunem,  and  the  site  of  royal  Jezreel,  and  the  spring  of  Harod,  where 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


229 


Gideon’s  thirsty  warriors  lapped  the  water  like  dogs;  thence,  with  Mount 
Gilboa  on  their  right,  through  the  Plain  of  Jezreel  and  the  city  of  Beth- 
shean,  where  'the  bodies  of  Saul  and  his  sons  were  gibbeted  by  the  Philis¬ 
tines,  and  so,  at  last,  to  the  Jordan.  It  is  possible  that  this  may  actually 
have  been  their  route;  but  we  do  not  know  that  at  that  particular  place, 
and  at  that  time  of  the 
year,  when  the  Jordan 
was  swollen  with  the 
melted  snow  from 
Mount  Lebanon,  they 
would  find  any  means 
of  crossing  the  river. 

There  was  no  perma¬ 
nent  ford  there,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether 
there  was  any  ferry  by 
which  they  might  cross 
the  stream. 

We  know  of  only 
three  places  where  there 
was  a  passage  over  the 
Ghor,  or  sunken  plain 
and  river  of  Jordan. 

One  of  these  was  about 
six  miles  south  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  not  far 
from  the  Hieromax, 
now  called  the  Yarmuk, 
one  of  the  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Jordan.  If  the  pilgrims  took  the 
road  on  the  north  of  Mount  Tabor,  to  that  place,  where  an  old  Sara¬ 
cenic  bridge  still  marks  the  ancient  crossing,  they  would  find  them¬ 
selves  among  historic  scenes.  It  was  there,  in  all  probability,  that  David 
crossed  to  invade  Syria  (2  Sam.  x:  17);  there  that  the  gallant  caravan  of 
Naaman  would  cross  in  his  journey  to  Samaria,  when  the  little  captive 
maid,  out  of  the  land  of  Israel,  had  told  him  where  he  might  be  healed 


EAGLE  AND  CONIES. 


230 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


of  his  leprosy;  perhaps  it  was  somewhere  near  the  same  spot  that  “he 
dipped  himself  seven  times  in  Jordan,  according  to  the  saying  of  the  man 
of  God,  and  his  flesh  came  again  like  the  flesh  of  a  little  child”  (2  Kings 
v:  14);  and  perhaps  it  was  at  this  same  ford  that  the  terror-stricken  army 
of  Ben-hadad,  King  of  Syria,  sought  to  escape  in  its  panic  flight  from 
Samaria  (2  Kings  vii:  15). 

Somewhere  between  Bethshean  and  the  river  Jabbok,  there  was  a 
great  ford  of  the  Jordan  at  Beth-barah,  the  House  of  Passage ,  or  Hoitse  of 
the  Ford ,  where  the  men  of  Ephraim  gathered  to  intercept  the  fugitive 
Midianites,  after  Gideon’s  victory  (Judg.  vii:  24),  where  the  Ephraimites 
were  afterward  slaughtered,  as  we  shall  presently  hear,  by  their  country¬ 
men  of  Mount  Gilead  (Judg.  xii:  6)  and  where  Judas  Maccabeus  crossed 
from  the  sack  of  Ephron  (1  Macc.  v:  52).  We  must  not,  however,  con¬ 
found  this  Beth-barah  with  Bethabara,  where  John  the  Baptist  came 
preaching  repentance,  and  baptizing  men  for  the  remission  of  sins  (John 
i:  28).  Bethabara  appears  to  have  been  easily  accessible  from  Judea,  and 
must,  therefore,  in  all  probability,  have  been  much  further  south  than 
Beth-barah,  perhaps  at  the  lowest  ford  of  the  Jordan,  near  Jericho. 

A  little  south  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  the  Saviour  probably  caught  His 
first  glance  of  the  “narrow  stream”  of  Jordan,  a  river  so  small,  that  from 
its  source  at  Banias,  to  its  entrance  into  the  Dead  Sea,  it  makes  but  one 
hundred  and  four  miles  of  actual  distance;  which  is  not  navigable;  which 
has  been  only  an  obstruction,  and  in  no  way  a  help,  to  commerce;  on  the 
banks  of  which  no  city  of  importance  ever  stood;  and  which  is  yet,  per¬ 
haps,  the  most  famous  of  all  the  rivers  of  the  earth.  Geologically  speak¬ 
ing,  the  narrow  valley  through  which  it  runs,  and  which,  in  many  places,  is 
a  gorge,  rather  than  a  valley,  is  simply  a  great  rent  or  rift  in  the  earth’s 
surface,  caused  by  the  subsidence  of  a  part  of  the  earth’s  crust  toward  the 
center.  As  we  have  said  before,  the  Dead  Sea,  into  which  it  flows,  at  one 
time  extended  much  further  north  than  it  does  now.  Half-way  between 
its  present  northern  shore  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  four  hundred  feet 
above  its  present  level,  its  former  beach  is  still  to  be  seen,  and  the  earth  is 
there  so  impregnated  with  salt  as  to  make  vegetation  impossible;  about 
two  hundred  feet  lower,  a  second  beach  is  found,  marking  another  later 
level;  and  still,  a  hundred  feet  above  the  river,  a  third  beach  marks  a  third 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


231 


stage  in  the  subsidence  of  the  Dead  Sea.  At  the  bottom  of  the  Ghor,  the 
river  has  worn  for  itself  two  channels,  the  older  being  flat  and  compara¬ 
tively  broad,  and  the  more  recent,  which  lies  within  the  older,  being  about 
100  feet  in  width,  and  enclosed  between  banks,  or  bluffs,  of  clayey  soil, 
about  fifty  feet  high.  On  each  side  of  the  lower  channel,  vegetation  is 
dense  and  rank;  elsewhere,  except  at  occasional  oases,  the  Jordan  Valley  is 


jephtha’s  return,  (judges  xi :  34). 

barren.  Hardly  any  of  it  can  ever  have  been  cultivated.  On  the  eastern 
side  of  Lake  Huleh  (The  Waters  of  Merom),  Dr-.  Robinson  found  the  land 
tilled  down  to  the  borders  of  the  lake;  and  large  crops  of  wheat,  maize, 
barley,  sesame  and  rice  rewarded  the  labor  of  the  husbandman.  Horses, 
sheep  and  cattle  fattened  on  the  rich  pastures;  and  herds  of  black  buffa¬ 
loes,  doubtless  descended  from  the  “fat  Bulls  of  Bashan,”  wallowed  m  the 
mire  of  the  marshes.  Lower  down,  there  were  only  occasional  patches  of 


232 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


grain,  and  the  people  who  had  sown  them,  lived  at  a  distance  from  their  v 
fields.  From  the  Sea  of  Galilee  downward  to  the  Plain  of  Jordan,  the 
river,  as  Dean  Stanley  says,  is  the  river  of  a  desert.  Within  the  narrow 
range  of  its  own  bed,  it  produces  a  rank  mass  of  vegetation,  which  makes 
only  a  more  striking  contrast  with  the  desolation  beyond.  This  is  caused 
by  the  depression  of  the  valley,  averaging  1,000  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
Mediterranean.  The  waters  of  the  river  cannot  escape  to  fertilize  the 
surrounding  land,  and  the  tropical  heat,  while  it  calls  out  into  extraordi¬ 
nary  luxuriance  whatever  vegetation  the  water  does  touch,  parches  and 
withers  up  every  particle  of  verdure  that  appears  beyond  its  reach. 

The  fall  of  the  Jordan  is  so  rapid  as  to  entitle  it  to  its  name  of  Jor¬ 
dan,  which  signifies  the  Descender.  Its  scenery  is  often  beautiful,  but 
seldom,  grand.  Only  once,  so  far  as  we  know,  have  boats  floated  on  its 
waters  from  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  the  mouth,  and  Lieutenant  Lynch 
eloquently  describes  that  expedition: 

“The  boats  (he  says)  had  little  need  to  propel  them,  for  the  current 
carried  us  along  at  the  rate  of  from  four  to  six  knots  an  hour;  the  river 
from  its  eccentric  course,  scarcely  permitting  a  correct  sketch  of  its  topo¬ 
graphy  to  be  taken.  It  turned  and  twisted  north,  south,  east  and  west, 
turning  in  the  short  space  of  half  an  hour,  to  every  quarter  of  the  com¬ 
pass  .  .  .  .For  hours,  in  their  swift  descent,  the  boats  floated  down 

in  silence,  the  silence  of  the  wilderness.  Flere  and  there  were  spots 
of  solemn  beauty.  The  numerous  birds  sang  with  a  music  strange  and 
manifold;  the  willow  branches  floated  from  the  trees  like  tresses,  and 
creeping  mosses  and  clambering  weeds,  with  a  multitude  of  white  and 
silvery  little  flowers,  looked  out  from  among  them;  and  the  cliff  swallow 
wheeled  over  the  falls,  or  went  at  his  own  wild  will,  darting  through  the 
arched  vistas,  shadowed  and  shaped  by  the  meeting  foliage  on  the  banks; 
and  above  all,  yet  attuned  to  all,  was  the  music  of  the  river,  gushing  with 
a  sound  like  that  of  shawms  and  cymbals.  .  .  . 

“The  stream  sometimes  washed  the  bases  of  the  sandy  hills,  and  at 
other  times  meandered  between  low  banks,  generally  fringed  with  trees 
and  fragrant  with  blossoms.  Some  points  presented  views  exceedingly 
picturesque — the  mad  rushing  of  a  mountain  torrent,  the  song  and  sight  of 
birds,  the  overhanging  foliage,  glimpses  of  the  mountains  far  over  the 


A  BIT  OF  THE  JORDAN  BY  MOONLIGHT. 

we  passed  his  lair,  a  wild  boar  started  with  a  savage  grunt  and  dashed 
into  the  thicket,  but  for  some  moments  we  tracked  his  pathway  by  the 
bending  canes  and  the  crashing  sound  of  broken  branches. 

“The  birds  were  numerous,  and  at  times,  when  we  issued  from  the 
silence  and  shadow  of  a  narrow  and  verdure-tinted  part  of  the  stream, 
into  an  open  bend  where  the  rapids  rattled,  and  the  light  burst  in,  and  the 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA.  233 

plain,  and  here  and  there  a  gurgling  rivulet  pouring  its  tribute  of  crystal 
water  into  the  low  and  muddy  Jordan.  The  western  shore  was  peculiar 
from  the  high  limestone  hills,  while  the  left  or  eastern,  bank  was  low  and 
fringed  with  tamarisk  and  willow,  and  occasionally  a  thicket  of  lofty  cane 
and  tangled  masses  of  shrubs  and  creeping  plants,  giving  it  the  character 
of  a  jungle.  At  one  place  we  saw  the  fresh  marks  of  a  tiger  (leopard)  on 
the  low  clayey  margin  where  he  had  come  to  drink.  At  another  time,  as 


234 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


birds  sang  their  wild-wood  song,  it  was,  to  use  a  simile  of  Mr.  Bedlow, 
like  a  sudden  transition  from  the  cold,  dull-lighted  hall,  where  the  gentle¬ 
men  hang  their  hats,  into  the  white  and  golden  saloon  where  the  music 
rings  and  the  dance  goes  on.  The  hawk  upon  the  topmost  branch  of  a 
blighted  tree  moved  not  at  our  approach,  and  the  veritable  nightingale 
ceased  not  her  song,  for  she  made  day  into  night  in  her  covert  among  the 
leaves;  and  the  bulbul,  whose  sacred  haunts  we  disturbed  when  the  cur¬ 
rent  swept  us  among  the  overhanging  boughs,  but  chirruped  her  surprise, 
calmly  winged  her  flight  to  another  sprig,  and  continued  her  interrupted 
melodies. 

‘‘Our  course  down  the  stream  was  with  varied  rapidity.  At  times  we 
were  going  at  from  three  to  four  knots  an  hour,  and  again  we  would  be 
swept  and  hurried  away,  dashing  and  whirling  onward  with  the  furious  speed 
of  a  torrent.  At  such  moments  there  was  excitement,  for  we  knew  not  but 
that  the  next  turn  of  the  steam  would  plunge  us  down  some  fearful  cata¬ 
ract,  or  dash  us  on  the  sharp  rocks  which  might  lurk  beneath  the  surface. 
Many  islands — some  fairy-like  and  covered  with  a  luxuriant  vegetation, 
others  mere  sandbanks  and  sedimentary  deposits— intercepted  the  course 
of  the  river,  but  were  beautiful  features  in  the  monotony  of  the  shores. 
The  regular  and  almost  unvaried  scene,  of  high  banks  and  alluvial  deposit 
and  sand-hills  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  low  shore,  covered  to  the  water’s 
edge  with  tamarisk,  the  willow  and  the  thick,  high  cane,  would  have  been 
fatiguing,  but  for  the  frequent  occurrence  of  sand  banks  and  verdant 
islands.  High  up  on  the  sand-bluffs,  the  cliff-swallow  chattered  from  her 
nest  in  the  hollow,  or  darted  about  in  the  bright  sunshine  in  pursuit  of  the 
gnat  and  the  water-fly.’’ 

Such  as  Lieutenant  Lynch  here  describes  the  Jordan  to  be,  such  it 
was  in  the  time  of  Christ.  Along  the  banks  are  thickets  of  tamarisk, 
acacia,  silver  poplar,  willow,  terebinth,  cedar,  laurestinus,  arbutus,  oleander, 
pistachio  and  many  other  trees,  with  which  vegetation,  and  tall  reeds,  ris¬ 
ing  and  waving  in  the  breeze  to  a  height  of  ten  or  twelve  feet.  The  birds 
are  numerous  and  vocal;  many  of  the  song-birds  of  England  being  heard 
on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  There  are  flocks  of  cranes  and  wild  ducks;  in 
some  spots  sparrows  are  present  in  countless  numbers;  but  the  more  strik¬ 
ing  feathered  inhabitants  of  the  valley  are  the  nightingale,  the  bulbul,  the 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


235 


beautiful  wur-wur,  or  bee-eater,  the  turtle  dove,  in  great  abundance,  the 
cliff-swallow,  and,  back  from  the  valley,  flocks  of  partridges,  from  which  a 
city,  Beth-Hogla,  the  House  (or  Haunt)  of  the  Partridge,  once  took  its  name. 
In  the  rank  and  reedy  jungles,  the  lion’s  roar  was  formerly  heard;  even  in 
the  time  of  the  Crusades  the  king  of  beasts  was  still  to  be  found  there;  but 
it  is  now  extinct,  though  its  bones  are  still  sometimes  discovered.  The 


DEATH  OF  AHAB.  (i  KINGS  XXII:  34). 

bear,  too,  has  disappeared.  Of  all  the  animals  which  are  dangerous  to 
man,  only  the  leopard  and  the  wild  boar  remain.  Of  smaller  creatures, 
the  most  curious,  is  the  jerboa,  a  miniature  kangaroo  in  appearance,  with 
a  body  only  six  or  seven  inches  long,  and  with  a  merely  rudimentary  fore¬ 
foot.  By  way  of  compensation,  its  hind  legs  are  as  long  as  its  body,  and 
with  the  aid  of  these,  and  a  tail  longer,  it  makes  prodigious  springs  or  leaps, 
and  seems  almost  to  fly  at  the  approach  of  danger.  It  is  a  pretty  crea- 


236 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


ture,  with  soft  fur  and  large  wide-opened  eyes,  and  inhabits  extensive 
burrows  in  the  ground.  There  are  said  to  be  not  less  than  twenty-three 
species  of  mice  and  other  small  rodents  in  the  Jordan  Valley,  and  among 
them  is  one  curious  creature,  not  larger  than  the  common  mouse,  but 
covered  on  the  back  with  prickles,  like  the  hedgehog  or  the  porcupine. 
Distinguished  among  the  lesser  animals  of  this  region,  by  mention  in  Scrip¬ 
ture,  is  the  coney,  which  is  found  chiefly  on  the  east  side  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
It  lives  gregariously  in  natural  clefts  of  the  rocks,  and  anatomically,  this 
little  animal,  which  is  about  the  size  of  a  common  rabbit,  is  said  by  natu¬ 
ralists  to  belong  to  a  genus,  midway  between  the  hippopotamus  and  the 
rhinoceros!  It  is  exceedingly  shy  and  difficult  to  catch.  The  coneys  are 
“but  a  feeble  folk,"  and  “little  upon  the  earth,"  but  they  are  “exceeding 
wise,"  and  when  startled,  they  find  a  “refuge  in  the  rocks"  (Prov.  xxx:24, 
26;  Psa.  civ:  18).  It  is  a  curions  thing,  that  the  Israelites  were  forbidden 
to  eat  the  flesh  of  the  coney,  on  the  ground  that  it  chews  the  cud,  but  does 
not  divide  the  hoof  (Deut.  xiv:7),  whereas,  the  fact  is,  that  the  coney  does 
not  chew  the  cud.  The  Hebrews,  who  were  not  naturalists,  were  deceived 
by  the  peculiar  motion  made  by  the  coney  in  chewing  its  food,  which  is 
exactly  like  the  motion  of  the  jaws  made  by  ruminating  animals. 

The  wild  creatures  which  have  their  habitations  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan  are  frequently  driven  out  by  the  “swelling”  of  the  river,  when  the 
stream  is  filled  by  the  melted  snows  from  Lebanon.  But  this  is  not  what 
is  meant  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  when  he  says  (ch.  xlix:  19;  1-44) :  “Behold 
he  shall  come  up  like  a  lion  from  the  swelling  of  Jordan  against  the  habi¬ 
tation  of  the  strong."  In  these  passages,  the  Revised  Version,  properly 
translates  the  word  “swelling"  by  pride;  and  the  prophet  is  borrowing  the 
image  of  a  lion  “coming  up  from  his  thicket,”  and  “forsaking  his  covert'” 
(Jer.  iv :  7 ;  xxv.38),  to  attack  the  sheep  in  the  pastures  of  the  higher  lands. 
The  thick  jungle  by  the  river  side,  where  the  lion  made  his  lair,  was  the 
“pride”  or  “glory"  of  the  Jordan,  which  the  Authorized  Version  improperly 
translates  “the  swelling  of  Jordan.” 

After  crossing  the  Jordan,  the  pilgrims  would  march  southward,  with 
the  river  on  their  right  and  Mount  Gilead  on  the  left.  The  name,  “Mount 
Gilead,”  like  the  name,  “Mount  Lebanon,”  does  not  properly  designate  a 
single  peak,  but  a  mountainous  region.  The  word  signifies  a  hard  or 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


237 


rocky  country,  nothing  more;  and  though  one  peak,  about  half  a  dozen 
miles  south  of  the  Jabbok,  has  been  more  particularly  called  by  the  name 
of  Mount  Gilead,  yet  the  same  designation  properly  applies  to  a  large 
scope  of  mountainous  territory,  extending  from  the  Hieromaxon  the  north, 
to  the  Valley  of  Heshbon  on  the  south,  that  is  to  say,  very  nearly  from  the 
southern  line  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  to  the  northern  line  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
Its  western  boundary 


is,  of  course,  the  Jor¬ 
dan;  but  its  eastern 
limit  can  be  only  in¬ 
definitely  said  to  be 
where  the  mountains 
of  Gilead  melt  away 
into  the  plateau  of 
Arabia.  The  average 
height  of  Mount 
Gilead  is  about  3,000 
feet;  but  from  the 
Ghor,  which  aver¬ 
ages  about  1,000  feet 
below  sea-level,  Gil¬ 
ead  appears  much 
higher.  From  a  dis¬ 
tance,  it  seems  bleak 
and  barren;  but  on 
ascending  it,  the 
summit  is  found  to 


W 

3 

M 

r 

HH 

2 

o 

w 

O 

X 

H 

a 

M 

>— 1 

O 

X 

a 

> 

2 


in 

X 

a 

TJ 

X 

M 

c/i 

M 

2 

H 

M 

O 


be  a  rich  and  picturesque  table  land,  “tossed  about  in  wild  confusion 
of  undulating  downs,  clothed  with  rich  grass  throughout,  and  in  the 
northern  parts,  with  magnificent  forests  of  sycamore,  beech,  terebinth, 
ilex,  and  enormous  fig-trees.”  From  a  point  somewhat  north  of  the 
Jabbok,  Mr.  Palmer  says  “is  the  finest  view  that  I  ever  saw  in  any 
part  of  the  world.”  From  that  point  are  distinctly  visible  Lebanon, 
the  Sea  of  Galilee,  Esdraelon  in  its  full  extent,  Carmel,  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  and  the  whole  range  of  Judah  and  Ephraim.  “This  view,” 


238 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


says  Dean  Stanley,  “must  have  been  the  very  prospect  which  presented 
itself  to  the  eyes,  first  of  Abraham,  and  then  of  Jacob,  as  they  descended 
from  these  summits,  on  their  way  from  Mesopotamia;  it  must  have  been 
substantially  the  same  as  that  which  was  unfolded  before  the  eyes  of 
Balaam  and  Moses;  and  it  is,  in  all  probability,  the  view  which  furnished 
the  framework  of  the  vision  of  ‘all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,’  which  was 
revealed  in  a  moment  of  time  to  Him  Who  was  driven  up  from  the  valley 
below,  to  these  mountains,  at  the  opening  of  His  public  ministry.” 

Somewhere  in  Mount  Gilead,  but  at  a  spot  which  cannot  now  be  iden¬ 
tified,  Jacob  took  his  last  farewell  of  his  crafty  father-in-law,  Laban,  and 
the  parting  was  made  an  occasion  for  one  of  those  word-plays,  in  which 
the  orientals  delight,  and  of  which  there  are  not  a  few  to  be  found  in  the 
pages  of  Holy  Writ.  According  to  the  custom  of  their  time,  Laban  and 
Jacob  reared  a  heap  of  stones,  in  witness  of  their  covenant  of  amity,  and 
called  it  Mizpah,  or  the  watch-tower,  for  Laban  said:  “The  Lord  watch 
between  me  and  thee,  when  we  are  absent,  one  from  another.”  Then, 
referring  to  the  heap,  and  playing  on  the  old  name  of  the  country,  he  said; 
“This  Gal  (the  Hebrew  for  heap),  is  Ed  (witness)  between  me  and  thee 
this  day;  therefore  was  the  name  of  it  called  Galeed.” 

In  the  time  of  Moses,  the  southern  part  of  Gilead  was  held  by  Sihon, 
King  of  the  Amorites;  the  northern  by  Og„  King  of  Bashan;  and  their 
domains  were  probably  separated  by  the  river  Jabbok.  After  the  defeat 
of  these  two  kings,  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  which  had  “a  very  great 
multitude  of  cattle,”  were  attracted  by  the  rich  pastures  of  Gilead,  its 
copious  streams  of  water,  and  its  forests  of  trees,  and  chose  to  have  their 
portion  on  that  side  of  Jordan.  The  other  tribes  went  on  over  Jordan  to 
a  region  which  now,  at  least,  is  far  less  desirable  Rich  in  their  flocks  and 
herds,  the  two  tribes  continued  much  the  same  mode  of  life  as  they  had 
lived  before.  Reuben  became  more  and  more  like  the  wild  tribes  of  the 
desert.  His  men  were  few,  for  the  English  version  has  added  to  the  bles¬ 
sing  of  the  patriarch,  a  “not”  which  is  found  in  the  Septuagint,  but  not  in 
the  Hebrew.  He  continued  to  dwell  among  the  sheepfolds  and  the  bleat- 
ings  of  the  flocks;  and  he  was  barely  able  to  maintain  his  tribal  integrity 
among  his  brethren.  Gad  became  a  marauder,  like  his  Arab  neighbors, 
fast  becoming  a  victim  of  plunder,  and  himself  plundering  at  last  (Gen. 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


239 


xlix:  19).  But,  if  these  two  tribes  had  the  faults  and  weakness  of  their 
Arab  kinsmen  and  neighbors,  they  had  also  their  grand  virtue  of  hospi¬ 
tality.  In  their  tents,  the  fugitive  found  always  a  refuge.  In  Gilead,  the 
sons  of  the  ill-fated  Saul  took  shelter  when  they  sought  to  re-establish  the 
rule  of  their  royal  house  (2  Sam.  ii:  8).  There,  too,  in  his  turn,  David 
found  sanctuary  when  he  was  forced  to  flee  from  the  unnatural  rebellion 


DEATH  OF  ABSALOM.  (2  SAM.  XVIII:  6-7). 

of  Absalom  (2  Sam.  ii:  8)  and  the  men  of  Gilead  hospitably  brought  him 
all  manner  of  supplies;  “for  they  said,  ‘The  people  is  hungry,  and  weary, 
and  thirsty,  and  in  the  wilderness.”’  There,  shortly  afterward,  the  great 
battle  was  fought,  in  which  Absalom  met  his  death  under  one  of  the 
mighty  “oaks  of  Bashan;”  and  his  army  was  so  scattered,  that,  in  poetic 
language,  the  wood  is  said  to  have  “devoured  more  people  than  the  sword 
devoured.”  By  some  one  of  the  refugees,  who  sought  hospitality  in 


240 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


Gilead,  and  perhaps  by  David  himself,  the  forty-second  Psalm  was  writ¬ 
ten;  for  even  in  the  pleasant  land  of  Gilead,  the  exile  longed  for  the  home 
which  was  ever  in  his  heart,  and  ever  before  his  eyes.  Nor  can  we  forget 
that  Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  was  a  man  of  Gilead  (i  Kings  xvii:  i)  and  per¬ 
haps  it  was  the  rough,  wild  life  of  his  native  mountains  that  fostered  the 
brave  independence,  which  made  kings’  threats  powerless  to  daunt  him. 
Perhaps,  too,  it  was  the  rough  clothing  of  the  herdsman,  and  the  unkempt 
hair  and  beard  of  the  Arab  border,  that  made  Elijah  so  obnoxious  to  the 
cruel  but  dainty  Jezebel,  as  well  as  his  maintaining  of  the  cause  of  the 
true  God.  A  courtier-like  prelate  might  possibly  have  won  Jezebel’s  good 
graces;  but  the  “lord  of  hair”  from  Mount  Gilead,  could  only  repel  her  and 
arouse  her  hatred. 

We  have  more  than  one  sad  story  to  tell  of  Mount  Gilead,  but  one 
sadder  than  all  the  rest.  Jephthah,  Judge  of  Israel,  was  a  Gileadite,  son 
of  a  man  named  Gilead  and  a  foreign  concubine.  Driven  after  his 
father’s  death,  from  all  share  in  the  inheritance,  he  betook  himself  to  the 
desert,  and  there  waged  the  wars  of  a  free-booter,  as  was  then  deemed  to 
be  proper  for  a  gallant  man.  His  fame  as  a  warrior  was  soon  reported  to 
his  kinsmen  of  Mount  Gilead,  and  when  war  arose  between  them  and  the 
Ammonites,  they  sent  an  embassy  to  ask  him  to  become  their  chieftain. 
Jephthah  readily  consented,  but  on  condition  that  if  he  were  victorious, 
he  should  then  be  judge  over  his  people.  To  this  condition  they  agreed. 
Jephthah  showed  the  utmost  skill  in  so  negotiating  with  the  Ammonites  as 
to  gain  time  for  sufficient  preparation.  “Be  content”  he  said  by  his 
ambassadors  tcrthe  Ammonites,  “Be  content  with  the  land  that  Chemosh 
thy  god,  giveth  thee  to  possess.”  There  was  still  a  good  deal  of  innocent 
heathenism  in  Jephthah’s  religious  views,  since  he  seems  to  have  thought 
that  Chemosh  was  the  god  of  Ammon,  in  much  the  same  sense  Jehovah 
was  the  God  of  Israel.  Nevertheless,  he  was  thoroughly  sincere  and 
devout;  and  when  he  marched  against  the  Ammonites,  he  made  a  solemn 
vow  unto  Jehovah,  that  if  Jehovah  granted  victory  to  his  arms,  then 
whatsoever  should  first  come  forth  out  of  his  house  to  meet  him  when  he 
returned  in  peace  from  battle,  should  be  offered  up  to  God  for  a  burnt 
offering.  His  victory  was  speedy  and  complete,  and  he  returned  in  peace 
and  joy  to  his  house  in  Mizpeh.  The  old  Greeks  had  a  saying,  “Call  no 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


241 


man  happy  till  he  dies;”  and  the  fate  of  Jephthah  illustrates  the  saying. 
At  his  home  in  Mizpeh  he  had  an  only  child,  a  daughter;  and,  “beside  her 
he  had  neither  son  nor  daughter.”  As  he  drew  near  to  his  dwelling 
this  daughter  came  bounding  to  meet  him,  dancing  with  her  maidens  and 
playing  on  her  timbrel.  This,  then,  was  the  offering  he  had  vowed  to  pay 
as  the  price  of  victory,  and  the  boldest  warrior  of  the  desert  dared  not 
break  that  vow.  “Ah,  my  daughter,  ah,  my  daughter,”  he  cried  as  he 
rent  his  robe,  “thou  hast  brought  me  very  low.  I  have  opened  my  mouth 
to  the  Lord,  and  I  cannot  go  backX'  The  answer  of  his  child  was  worthy 


RUINS  OF  GERASH. 

of  herself  and  of  her  sire.  “My  father,”  she  said,  “if  thou  hast  opened 
thy  mouth  unto  the  Lord,  do  to  me  according  to  that  which  hath  pro¬ 
ceeded  out  of  thy  mouth,  forasmuch  as  the  Lord  hath  taken  vengeance 
for  thee  of  thine  enemies,  even  of  the  children  of  Ammon”.  One  boon 
only  she  craved,  and  that  was  that  she  might  go  away  with  her  com¬ 
panions  on  the  hills  and  through  the  woods  of  Gilead,  and  bewail  the  loss 
of  a  joyous  motherhood,  which  every  Israelitish  maiden  cherished  as  her 
dearest  hope.  She  went,  and  she  returned;  and  what  then  happened  no 


242 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


man  knows.  For  ages  no  one  doubted  that  the  maiden  was  slaughtered, 
and  her  body  burned  to  ashes  in  fulfilment  of  her  father’s  vow.  Of  late 
some  commentators  have  conceived  that  a  life  of  celibate  seclusion  was 
the  fate  imposed  upon  her;  but  the  truth  cannot  be  ascertained.  Either 
way  it  was  a  cruel  and  horrible  mistake.  If  the  poor  half-heathen 
Jephthah,  who  had  drunk  in  heathenism  with  his  persecuted  mother’s  milk, 
had  only  known  the  law  which  he  intended  to  obey,  he  would  have  known 
that  when  an  Israelite  devoted  himself  or  his  child  to  God,  he  might 
redeem  himself  or  his  child  on  payment  of  certain  shekels  (Lev. 
xxvii:  1-8);  and  then  the  world  would  never  have  been  thrilled  with  this 
sad  story. 

Happily,  no  doubt,  for  him,  Jephthah  was  not  allowed  much  time  for 
the  indulgence  of  his  grief.  The  men  of  Ephraim,  on  the  western  side  of 
Jordan,  who  had  refused  to  join  in  war  against  the  Ammonites,  now  chal¬ 
lenged  his  right  to  go  to  war  without  their  consent,  and  boldly  invaded 
Gilead  to  punish  him.  Jephthah  answered  with  great  moderation,  but 
when  they  forced  a  battle,  he  defeated  them,  and  when  they  broke 
in  flight,  he  sent  to  occupy  the  only  ford  (probably  Beth-barah)  by 
which  they  could  return  into  their  own  country.  As  the  fugitives 
approached  the  ford,  they  were  asked  if  they  were  Ephraimites,  and  if 
they  said  they  were  not,  the  men  of  Gilead  bade  them  pronounce  the  word 
Shibboleth ,  which  means  a  stream  or  an  ear  of  corn.  This  word  the 
Ephraimites  invariably  pronounced  Sibboleth ,  for  they  “could  not  frame  to 
pronounce  it  aright;”  and  being  thus  easily  detected,  they  were  put  to 
death.  After  this  second  victory,  Jephthah  held  his  dearly  purchased 
judgeship  just  six  years.  “Then  died  Jephthah,  the  Gileadite,  and  was 
buried  in  one  of  the  cities  of  Gilead.” 

As  the  pilgrims,  on  their  way  to  the  passover,  passed  down  the  Ghor, 
every  part  of  Mount  Gilead  would  be  sure  to  recall  sacred  and  tragic  histori¬ 
cal  recollections.  Most  of  the  cities  forming  the  famous  confederacy  of  De- 
capolis,  were  in  that  locality,  though  its  boundaries,  apparently,  extended 
from  Damascus  on  the  north,  to  the  Jabbok  on  the  south.  The  “ten 
cities”  are  commonly  reckoned  as  follows:  Scythopolis  (Bethshean),  Hip¬ 
pos,  Gadara,  Pella,  Philadelphia  (or  Rabbath  Ammon),  Gerasa,  Dion, 
Banatha,  Damascus  and  Raphana;  but  some  writers  omit  Damascus  and 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


243 


insert  in  place  of  it  Abila,  the  capital  of  the  tetrarchy  of  Abilene.  Few  of 
these  ten  cities  fall  within  our  present  scope,  but  some  of  them,  and 
others  not  counted  among  them,  deserve  attention. 

Gadara  is  mentioned  only  incidentally  in  Holy  Scripture,  where  we 
read  of  our  Lord's  subsequent  visit  to  “the  country  of  the  Gadarenes” 
(Mark  v:  1 ;  Luke  viii :  26).  It  is  now  called  Um-Keis ,  and  is  situated  on  a 
steep  hill,  three  miles  south  of  the  Hieromax,  and  about  nine  or  ten  miles 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS.  (MARK  1 1  9—  II.) 

from  the  Jordan.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Hiero¬ 
max,  were  celebrated  hot  springs  and  baths,  which  are  mentioned  by  Jose¬ 
phus.  In  the  time  of  the  Roman  domination,  Gadara  was  one  of  the  most 
strongly  fortified  cities  of  the  country.  The  remains  are  still  imposing. 
“Their  most  remarkable  feature,”  says  Dr.  Tristram,  “is  a  perfect  Roman 
street,  more  than  half  a  mile  long,  with  the  ruts  worn  by  the  chariot  wheels; 


244 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


colonnades  on  either  side,  of  which  the  columns  are  lying  prostrate,  though 
many  bases  are  standing;  and  massive  crypt-like  cells  in  a  long  row,  ap¬ 
parently  a  market  or  bazaar.”  There  is  also  a  fine  amphitheater,  and  a 
very  perfect  theater.  T  o  the  east  of  Gadara,  is  a  field  of  tombs.  Several 
acres  are  strewn  with  stone  coffins,  and  their  lids;  and  the  whole  district  is 
perforated  with  caves  of  sepulture,  which  are  now  used  for  dwellings  or 
temporary  shelter  by  the  tribes  which  visit  that  neighborhood  for  a  part  of 
the  year.  Gadara  was  destined  to  be  the  scene  of  one  of  our  Lord  s  most 
wonderful  miracles,  which  is  recorded  by  all  three  of  the  synoptic  evangel¬ 
ists  (Matt,  viii :  28—34 ;  Mark  v:i-2i;  Luke  viii:26-4o).  When  Jesus 
crossed  over  the  Sea  of  Galilee  into  Gadaritis ,  the  “country  of  the  Gada- 
renes,”  which  at  that  time  was  understood  to  extend  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 
the  demoniacs  met  Him  at  a  short  distance  from  the  steep  shore;  they  had 
come  from  the  field  of  tombs,  where  they  made  their  abode,  wearing  no 
clothes,  and  having  no  other  dwelling;  and  when  the  demons  were  cast 
out  and  entered  into  the  swine,  then  the  unclean  beasts  ran  violently  down 
the  steep  declivity  which  Jesus  had  just  ascended.  Nothing  could  fit  more 
accurately  into  the  topographical  features  of  the  locality,  than  the  circum¬ 
stances  described  in  connection  with  this  miracle,  provided  that  the 
locality  is  understood  to  be  the  part  of  Gadaritis  extending  to  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  and  not  the  city  of  Gadara  itself. 

About  sixteen  miles  southward  from  Gadara  was  Jabesh  Gilead,  the 
scene  of  one  of  those  wild  massacres,  which  occurred  when  there  was  no 
king  in  Israel,  and  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes. 
A  fearful  offense  had  been  committed  by  the  men  of  Gibeah,  in  the  tribe  of 
Benjamin,  which  so  horrified  the  other  tribes  that,  with  one  consent,  they 
assembled  and  marched  into  the  territory  of  Benjamin,  demanding  that 
the  offenders  should  be  given  up  to  condign  punishment.  The  Benjamites 
refused  to  surrender  their  fellow-tribesmen,  and  then,  after  two  days  of 
bloody  defeat,  the  Israelites,  by  a  stratagem,  took  and  destroyed  Gibeah. 
Their  vengeance  was  terrible,  for  they  left  none  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin 
alive,  except  six  hundred  men  who  succeeded  in  making  their  escape. 
Moreover,  they  made  a  solemn  oath,  that  they  would  not  give  their  daugh¬ 
ters  to  those  men  to  enable  them  to  reconstitute  their  families.  But  when 
they  came  to  reflect,  they  began  to  bewail  the  almost  complete  extirpation 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


245 


of  one  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel;  and  in  their  dread  of  that  loss,  they 
would  now  have  been  willing  to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  to  the 
Benjamites,  if  their  oath  had  not  made  it  impossible.  They  inquired, 
therefore,  whether  there  were  none  of  the  Israelites  who  had  not  taken 
part  in  the  war  on  Benjamin,  and  Ending  that  the  men  of  Jabesh  Gilead 
had  kept  out  of  the  war,  they  sent  and  put  to  death,  every  soul  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  that  town,  except  four  hundred  unmarried  women,  whom  they 
gave  to  the  Benjamites  to  be  their  wives.  The  remaining  two  hundred 
Benjamites  were  provided  for,  by  carrying  off  two  hundred  maidens  from 
the  yearly  dance  of  the  women  of  Shiloh. 

The  name  of  Jabesh  still  survives  in  the  Wady  Yabes,  a  glen  with 
a  perennial  stream  flowing  through  it  to  the  Jordan,  which  it  enters  a  little 
south  of  Beth-shean.  The  town  is  on  a  hill  directly  opposite  to  Bethshean, 
on  which  it  looks  down,  and  when  the  inhabitants  of  Jabesh  Gilead  heard 
that  the  bodies  of  Saul  and  his  sons  had  been  dishonored  in  the  town 
which  stood  fairly  under  their  eyes,  “the  valiant  men  of  the  city  rose  up 
in  the  night,  and  took  the  bodies,  and  came  to  Gilead,  and  burned  them 
there;  and  they  took  their  bones,  and  buried  them  under  a  tree  at  Jabesh, 
and  fasted  seven  days.”  At  Jabesh,  therefore,  Saul  rested  after  all  his 
many  years  of  error,  and  unsettled  intellect;  and,  although  the  remains 
were  afterward  removed  to  the  sepulcher  of  Kish,  in  Zelah  (2  Sam.  xxi: 
12-14),  yet  no  Hebrew  pilgrim  could  ever  pass  that  spot  without  gentle 
thoughts  of  the  unhappy  king. 

About  six  miles  northwest  of  Jabesh,  is  Pella ,  a  city  of  the  Decapolis, 
which  is  not  mentioned  in  Scripture,  but  which  is  memorable  in  Christian 
history.  When  Jerusalem  was  about  to  be  besieged  by  Titus,  the  Chris¬ 
tian  inhabitants  remembered  our  Lord’s  warning,  and  the  whole  Christian 
community  fled  to  Pella,  where  they  abode  in  undisturbed  safety.  The 
place  is  now  entirely  deserted,  but  its  ruins  are  extensive,  and  there  re¬ 
mains  a  splendid  fountain,  with  two  columns  near  it,  standing  upright  still. 

Mahanaim ,  or  “the  hosts,”  cannot  be  identified  with  perfect  satisfac¬ 
tion,  but  Dr.  Tristram,  thinks  it  must  have  been  at  a  place  still  called 
Mahneh ,  where  there  is  a  fine  fountain  and  an  open  pool,  and  traces  of 
buildings  all  grass-grown,  and  now  buried  beneath  the  soil.  It  received  its 
name  of  Mahanaim  from  Jacob,  when  he  was  returning  into  Canaan,  in 


246 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


honor  of  God's  hosts  of  angels,  that  met  him  in  the  way,  after  his  separation 
from  Laban  (Gen.  xxxii:  1,  2).  Mahanaim  subsequently  became  a  place  of 
importance.  It  was  here  that  Abner  crowned  Ishbosheth,  the  son  of  Saul, 
King  of  Israel,  when  David  was  crowned  King  of  Judah  at  Hebron;  here 
Ishbosheth  reigned  for  two  years  (2  Sam.  ii :  8 — 10) ;  and  here,  at  last,  he 
was  murdered  (2  Sam.  iv:5~7).  It  was  to  Mahanaim  that  David  fled  at 
the  time  of  Absalom’s  rebellion,  and  not  far  from  Mahanaim,  the  decisive 
battle  was  fought,  in  which  Absalom  lost  his  , usurped  throne  and  his  life. 
It  was  at  the  gate  of  Mahanaim,  that  David  sat  waiting  for  news  of  the 
event  of  that  battle;  and,  it  was  to  a  chamber  over  the  gate  of  Mahanaim, 
that  he  went  weeping  and  saying,  “O,  my  son,  Absalom!  My  son,  my 
son,  Absalom!  Would  God  I  had  died  for  thee,  O  Absalom,  my  son,  my 
son!”  Except  as  one  of  Solomon’s  commissariat  districts,  Mahanaim  does 
not  again  appear  in  history. 

A  little  to  the  south  of  the  supposed  site  of  Mahanaim,  is  the  city  of 
Gerasa ,  now  called  J crash.  At  the  time  of  Christ  it  was  one  of  the  most 
important  cities  of  Decapolis.  In  the  Jewish  war,  it  was  taken  and  burnt 
by  order  of  Vespasian,  but  was  restored  to  great  splendor  under  the  An- 
tonines.  Of  its  early  history  we  know  nothing;  nor  do  we  know  anything 
of  its  abandonment.  It  seems  never  to  have  been  occupied  by  the  Sara¬ 
cens.  It  remains  precisely  as  the  Romans  left  it.  Dr.  Tristram  says,  it  is 
probably  the  most  perfect  Roman  city  left  above  ground.  His  description 
of  it  will,  therefore,  be  interesting.  “It  occupies  both  banks  of  a  little 
stream  in  the  center  of  a  wide  open  valley.  The  paved  roads,  both  north 
and  south,  are  unbroken,  skirted  with  tombs  and  monuments,  pagan  and 
Christian.  The  walls  are,  in  places,  of  the  original  height,  inclosing  a 
square  of  about  a  mile,  with  the  little  stream,  buried  in  oleanders,  running 
through  the  center,  and  many  a  street  bridge  over  it.  The  streets  remain 
— the  principal  one  having  a  double  row  of  columns  a  mile  in  length,  richly 
carved,  fronting  temple  and  palace  in  rapid  succession.  The  side  streets 
cross  at  right  angles.  For  a  thousand  years  it  has  been  a  silent  wilderness, 
yet  all  can  be  traced.  Even  the  sockets  of  the  gates  still  remain  in  the 
arches  of  the  gateways,  and  the  water  still  runs  in  the  channel  to  flood  the 
circus  for  mock  sea-fights.  Temple,  theater,  triumphal  arch,  forum,  baths, 
Christian  cathedral,  are  all  here  in  every  variety  of  later  Roman  architect- 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  EETHABARA. 


247 


ure.  Yet  this  was  but  a  distant  provincial  city,  standing  almost  in  the 
Arabian  desert,  and  almost  without  a  history.” 

Somewhere  between  Mahanaim  and  the  river  Jabbok,  was  Peniel ,  or 
Penuel ,  “the  Face  of  God,”  so  called  by  Jacob,  after  he  had  wrestled  all 
night  with  the  angel,  who  gave  him  the  name  of  Israel;  “because,”  the 
patriarch  said,  “I  have  seen  God,  face  to  face!”  Its  exact  locality  cannot 


PLAIN  OF  THE  JORDAN. 


be  ascertained,  though  it  was  a  fortified  place  in  the  time  of  the  Judges 
(Judg.  viii:  8-17). 

When  the  pilgrims  approached  the  Jabbok,  on  their  way  southward, 
they  would  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  Succoth,  a  place  of  which  no  recog¬ 
nized  vestige  remains.  There  Jacob  must  have  sojourned  for  a  time,  after 
leaving  Peniel,  since  he  built  him  a  house  there,  and  made  permanent 
booths  for  his  cattle  (Gen.  xxxiii:  17).  After  the  great  victory  of  Gideon 
over  the  Midianites,  when  he  and  his  brave  three  hundred  were  “faint,  yet 
pursuing”  Zeba  and  Zalmunna,  the  men  of  Succoth  refused  to  give  them 


248 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


bread,  lest  Gideon  might  not,  after  all,  capture  his  fleeing  foes.  Submit¬ 
ting  to  this  inhospitality,  Gideon  promised  to  chastise  the  men  of  Succoth 
when  he  should  return,  and  accordingly,  when  he  did  return  with  the  heads 
of  the  Midianitish  princes,  he  took  the  seventy-seven  elders,  or  sheiks,  of 
Succoth,  and  “taught  them”  a  sharp  lesson  with  thorns  and  briars  of  the 
wilderness  (Judg.  viii:  4-16).  On  the  western  side  of  Jordan,  there  was 
another  Succoth,  which  Dr.  Robinson  identifies  with  SakiU,  a  ruin  about 
ten  miles  west  of  the  river;  but  while  this  locality  would  suit  the  story  of 
Gideon,  it  is  apparently  too  far  north  for  the  Succoth  of  Jacob,  besides 
which,  the  Succoth  of  Jacob  appears  to  have  been  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Jordan.  Wherever  the  true  site  may  have  been,  Solomon  placed  his  brass 
foundries  for  casting  the  metal  work  of  the  temple,  “in  the  district  of  Jor¬ 
dan,  in  the  fat  or  soft  ground  between  Succoth  and  Zarthan”  (1  Kings 
vii:  46)  or  “between  Succoth  and  Zeredatha”  (2  Chron.  iv:  17).  The  site 
of  Zarthan  or  Zeredatha  is  wholly  unknown. 

So,  at  length,  passing  on  their  left  the  city  of  Aroer,  the  scene 
of  Jephthah’s  victory  over  the  Amorites,  the  pilgrims  would  come 
into  the  Plain  of  Jordan ,  and  would  soon  find  themselves  at  Beth-nimrah , 
the  House  of  the  Leopard ,  now  called  Beit-nimrim ,  the  House  of  Leop¬ 
ards.  The  Septuagint,  as  Dr.  Tristram  remarks,  renders  Beth-nimrah 
by  Beth-abra ,  the  House  of  the  Ford,  probably  because,  at  the  time 
when  the  Septuagint  translation  was  made,  the  leopards  had  disappeared 
before  the  advance  of  population,  and  the  ford  at  Beth-nimrah  had  come 
to  be  known  and  recognized  as  the  principal  passage  for  travelers  to  Gil¬ 
ead  and  Galilee.  Somewhere  near  this  spot,  it  must  have  been  that  the 
host  of  Israel  crossed  over  into  the  Promised  Land.  The  whole  people 
were  encamped  in  the  Plain  of  Jordan.  In  the  sultry  groves  of  Abel-shit - 
tim,  “the  Marshes  of  the  Acacia,"  which  spread  out  along  the  plain,  they 
had  been  seduced  by  the  Moabites  into  the  licentious  rites  of  Baal-Peor, 
and  had  been  sorely  punished  for  their  sin  (Numb,  xxv:  1-9).  At  length, 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  plain,  the  priests  advanced  boldly  into  the  bed 
of  the  stream,  bearing  the  ark  of  God;  then,  we  are  told,  the  waters  from 
above  were  arrested  in  their  flow,  and  when  the  waters  below  had  flowed 
on  into  the  Dead  Sea,  the  countless  multitude  of  Israel  was  able  to  cross 
over  dry-shod,  into  the  land  that  was,  thenceforth,  to  be  their  own  (Josh. 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


249 


iii:  14-17).  Centuries  later,  it  must  have  been  close  to  this  spot,  that  the 
prophet  Elijah’,  on  the  last  day  of  his  earthly  life,  smote  the  waters  of  Jor¬ 
dan  with  his  mantle,  and  made  a  way  for  himself  and  Elisha,  to  the  borders 
of  his  native  Gilead,  where  he  was  to  be  taken  up  into  heaven  by  a  whirl¬ 
wind  in  the  sight  of  his  faithful  follower  (2  Kings  ii:  1-11);  and  it  must 
have  been  near  the  same  historic  spot  that  Jesus  was  baptized  by  His  great 
forerunner,  the  Baptist  (Matt,  iii:  13;  Mark  i :  9 ;  Luke  iii:  21).  Beth- 
nimrah  exactly  corresponds  with  the  incidental  descriptions  of  the  place 
where  John  baptized,  as  we  find  them  in  the  gospels.  It  is  “beyond  Jor¬ 
dan”  (John  1:28);  it  is  accessible  to  “Jerusalem  and  all  Judea”  (Matt, 
iii:  5;  Mark  1:5);  and  the  mention  of  St.  Matthew  of  “the  region  round 
about  Jordan,”  in  all  probability,  signifies  the  Plain  of  Jordan,  the  great 
Oasis  of  Jericho. 

Looking  southeast  from  Beth-nimrah,  which  we  may  now  assume  to  be 
the  Bethabara  of  the  evangelist,  St.  John,  the  pilgrims  would  behold  the 
mountains  of  Moab  rising  gloomily  before  them — the  Pisga/i,  whence 
Moses  was  permitted  to  view  the  Promised  Land.  Pisgah,  like  Gilead 
and  Lebanon,  does  not  designate  a  particular  peak,  but  a  mountain  range 
of  which  the  “head”  or  loftiest  crest  is  Mount  Nebo.  It  was  to  the  top  of 
Nebo,  which  the  Arabs  call  Jcbel  Mebbeh ,  that  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  was 
sent  to  die;  and  before  he  died  God  permitted  him  to  behold  a  wide  pros¬ 
pect  of  the  land  to  whose  borders  he  had  led  the  fugitive  slaves  of  the 
Egyptians.  “The  Lord  showed  him  all  the  land  of  Gilead  unto  Dan,  and 
all  Naphtali,  and  the  land  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  the  land  of 
Judah  unto  the  utmost  sea,  and  the  South,  and  the  plain  of  the  valley  of 
Jericho,  the  City  of  Palm-trees,  unto  Zoar  (Deut.  xxxiv:  1-3).  The  view 
from  the  summit  of  Mount  Nebo  corresponds  with  this  statement.  Lrom 
the  same  spot  the  traveler  can  now  descry  the  mountains  of  Gilead 
stretching  northward  to  Bashan,  while  on  their  eastern  part  they  slope 
gradually  to  the  far-off  Arabian  Plain,  waving  with  corn  and  grass,  without 
a  house,  a  tree,  or  a  bush,  but  with  the  black  tents  of  the  Arabs  dotted  far 
and  near,  and  visible  through  the  glass.  The  eastern  side  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  of  course  is  not  visible,  but  through  a  break  in  the  middle,  Engedi,  is 
seen,  still  green  in  the  distance.  Behind  it  on  the  southwest,  appears  the 
ridge  of  Hebron  as  far  as  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem,  with  the  Church  of 


250 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


the  Ascension  seated  on  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  To  the 
northwest  is  Gerizim,  with  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon  lying  peacefully  beyond, 
and  yet  further  in  the  same  direction  is  the  ridge  of  Carmel.  O11  the 
right  of  Carmel  appears  the  summit  of  Mount  Tabor  with  Gilboa  and 
Little  Hermon  lying  near  by,  while  beyond  all,  rises  the  snow-capped 
Hermon;  and  then  the  eye,  sweeping  down  the  Ghor,  rests,  at  last,  on 
Jericho,  just  beyond  the  ford.  As  Moses  looked  between  the  Jordan  and 
the  eminence  on  which  he  stood,  he  saw  beneath  him  the  little  city  of 
Zoar,  to  which  Lot  escaped  from  Sodom  (Gen.  xix:  17-22). 

The  cities  of  the  plain,  which  were  destroyed  for  their  iniquities,  are 
commonly  supposed  to  have  been  situated  within  the  boundaries  of  what 
is  now  the  Dead  Sea,  and  their  destruction  is  supposed  to  have  been 
accomplished  by  some  tremendous  geological  convulsion,  by  means  of 
which  the  Dead  Sea  came  into  existence.  There  is  no  ground  whatever 
for  such  an  opinion.  It  is  not  sustained  by  the  language  of  Scripture; 
and  there  is  nothing  to  sustain  it  in  the  geological  formation  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  which  has  come  into  existence  in  the  same  way  as  other  similar  salt 
lakes  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  It  is  possible  that  no  extraordinary  catas¬ 
trophe  would  be  required  to  produce  the  events  described  in  Genesis. 
The  whole  neighborhood  abounds  in  sulphur;  from  the  sea  itself  masses 
of  bitumen  are  thrown  up,  and,  during  the  earthquake  of  1837,  whole 
islands  of  that  substance  were  detached,  and  floated  on  the  surface. 
Given  an  abundance  of  the  combustibles,  and  it  would  require  only  “fire 
from  heaven,”  that  is  to  say,  a  lightning  storm,  to  destroy  the  cities  of  the 
plain.  Dr.  Tristram  gives  many  scriptural  reasons  why  it  is  impossible  to 
believe  that  these  unfortunate  cities  could  have  occupied  the  present  place 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  why  it  is  extremely  probable  that  they  did  stand  in 
the  Plain  of  Jordan. 

Lrom  the  summit  of  Mount  Nebo  the  brave  old  ruler  of  Israel  looked 
down  over  the  Land  of  Promise.  He  was  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  old, 
but  his  eye  was  not  dim,  and  his  natural  force  was  not  abated.  Again  he 
received  the  assurance  that  God’s  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob  should  be  kept,  though  he  himself  was  not  to  see  its  fulfilment;  and 
then  “Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  died  there  in  the  land  of  Moab,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  word  of  the  Lord;  and  He  buried  him  in  a  valley  in  the  land 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA 


251 


of  Moab,  over  against  Beth-peor;  but  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulcher  unto 
this  day.” 

Now,  we  are  following  the  steps  of  One  “like  unto  Moses,”  who  was 
passing  over  that  ground  of  horrible  destruction  that  He  might  bring  salva¬ 
tion  to  all  the  earth.  Turning  from  the  unknown  burying  place  of  the  giver 
of  the  law,  He  was  about  to  cross  the  Jordan  on  his  way  to  fulfill  an  obliga 
tion  of  the  law;  but  high  above  the  temple  of  the  law,  which  denounced 


BLUFFS  OF  THE  JORDAN  GHOR. 


death  against  the  disobedient,  rose  before  Him  the  appointed  place  of  his 
sublime  ascension,  as  a  witness  that  death  does  not  utterly  destroy,  and  that 
a  world,  which,  by  the  law  of  Moses  could  not  live,  is  by  a  mightier  than 
Moses  gloriously  redeemed  unto  eternal  life. 

The  incomparable  sacredness  of  Jordan  over  all  other  rivers  in  the 
world  dates,  not  from  the  scenes  of  carnage  which  its  banks  have  witnessed, 
but  from  the  baptism  of  the  Saviour  in  its  waters.  1  he  Church  of  England 
happily  accepts  that  sentiment,  but  gives  it  a  far  wider  application,  by  say- 


252 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


ing  that,  by  His  baptism  in  the  river  Jordan,  Jesus  “sanctified  the  element  of 
water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin;"  that  is  to  say,  that  He  conse¬ 
crated  the  whole  element  of  water  forever,  and  wherever  found,  to  be  used 
in  the  initiatory  sacrament  of  his  Church,  which  promises  remission  of  sins 
to  those  who  rightly  come  to  it.  Nevertheless,  the  very  water  of  the  Jordan 
itself  has  always  been  especially,  and  even  superstitiously,  venerated.  In 
the  time  of  Constantine  it  was  considered  a  great  privilege  to  be  baptized 
in  Jordan,  or  with  water  brought  from  Jordan.  In  the  sixth  century  marble 
steps  were  built  leading  down  to  the  place  where  Christ  was  believed  to 
have  been  baptized,  and  many  pilgrims  there  went  down  into  the  river  wear¬ 
ing  a  white  robe  which  they  were  to  wear  only  once  again,  as  their  burial 
shroud.  Shipmasters  carried  away  with  them  bottles  of  water  with  which 
they  sprinkled  their  vessels  before  making  their  homeward  voyage.  At  this 
present  time,  on  every  Easter  Monday,  thousands  of  pilgrims  are  escorted 
by  guards  of  Turkish  troops  to  bathe  at  a  lower  ford,  about  two  miles  above 
the  Dead  Sea;  and  as  the  Easter  of  the  Greeks  falls  on  a  different  day 
from  that  of  the  Latins,  there  is  no  particular  rivalry  between  these  sects; 
indeed,  they  bathe  at  different  places,  the  Greeks  at  a  spot  called  Kasr  el 
Yehudi ,  and  the  Latins  at  another  spot  called  Makta .  The  crowd,  how¬ 
ever,  is  always  a  motley  one,  and  “the  streets  of  Jerusalem  are  for  the  time, 
deserted  to  see  the  caravans  set  out;  women  in  long  white  dresses  and  veils, 
men  in  flowing  robes  and  turbans,  covering  the  space  outside  the  walls  and 
slopes  and  hollows  of  the  valley  of  Jehosaphat,  to  see  the  start.  The  pro¬ 
cession  streams  from  the  gate,  and  pours  along  the  camel  track  toward 
Bethany  and  the  Jordan — some  on  foot,  others  on  horse-back,  or  on  asses, 
mules  or  camels.  Some  companies  travel  with  tents  and  provisions,  to  make 
everything  comfortable  on  the  journey.  Here,  a  woman  on  horse-back,  with 
a  child  on  each  arm,  is  to  be  seen;  there,  in  a  pannier  on  one  side  of  a  mule, 
is  a  woman,  in  the  other,  on  the  opposite  side,  is  a  man;  or  a  dromedary, 
with  a  great  frame  across  its  hump,  bears  a  family  with  all  its  coverlets  and 
utensils.  The  Russian  pilgrims,  men,  women  and  priests,  if  it  be  the 
Greek  Easter,  are  afoot  in  heavy  boots,  fur  caps,  and  clothing  more  fitted 
for  Archangel  than  for  the  Jordan  Valley.  Midway  comes  a  body  of  Turk¬ 
ish  horse,  with  drawn  swords,  clearing  the  way  for  the  governor;  then  pil¬ 
grims  again.  Drawn  from  every  land,  they  have  travelled  thousands  of 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  BETHABARA. 


253 


miles  in  the  belief  that  to  seethe  Holy  Places,  and  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan, 
will  tell  on  their  eternal  happiness.”  At  night  the  pilgrims  camp  at  Er 
Riha,  the  modern  Jericho,  and  long  before  the  next  day  breaks,  they  are 
up  and  on  their  way,  by  torch-light,  to  the  banks  of  Jordan.  As  the  sun  is 
rising  over  the  eastern  mountains,  the  foremost  pilgrims  reach  the  sacred 
river.  “Before  long,  the  high  bank  above  the  trees  and  reeds,  is  crowded 
with  horses  and  mules,  camels  and  asses,  in  terrible  confusion;  old,  young, 
men,  women  and  children,  of  many  nationalities,  all  pressing  together  in 
seemingly  inextricable  disorder.  Some  strip  themselves  naked,  but  most 
of  them  plunge  in  clad  in  a  white  gown,  which  is  to  serve  hereafter  as  a 
shroud,  consecrated  by  its  present  use.  Families  bathe  together,  the  father 
immersing  the  infant  and  other  children,  that  they  may  not  need  to  make 
the  pilgrimage  in  later  life.  Most  of  them  keep  near  the  shore,  but  some 
strike  boldly  out  into  the  current.  In  little  more  than  two  hours,  the  banks 
are  once  more  deserted,  the  pilgrims  re-mounting  their  motley  army  of  beasts, 
with  the  same  grave  quiet  as  they  had  shown  on  leaving  them  for  a 
time;  and  before  noon,  they  are  back  again  at  their  encampment.’’ 
(Geikie,  H.  L.) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


The  Crossing  of  Israel  Over  Jordan — The  Twelve  Stones— Gilgal — Historical  Events — Beth-hoglah — 
Kasr-Hajla — Jericho  Destroyed — Rebuilt — Elijah — Spring  of  Elisha— Capture  of  King  Zedekiah 
— Pompey  at  Jericho — Cleopatra  Acquires  It— Adorned  by  Herod — Destroyed  in  an  Insurrection — 
Rebuilt  by  Archelaus — Jesus  at  Jericho —His  Ancestress,  Rahab — Healing  of  the  Blind — Zac. 
chaeus — Later  History — Fertility  of  the  Plain — Cultivation  of  Sugar-Cane — Mount  Quarantania — 
Its  Caves — Ain  Duk — Present  Condition  of  the  Plain— Apples  of  Sodom — Er  Riha — Wady  Kelt— 
The  Brook  Cherith— Robbers  between  Jericho  and  Jerusalem — A  Recent  Incident — Inn  of  the 
Good  Samaritan— Wady  el-Hod — Ainel-Hod — En-shemesh — Bethany — Bethphage — The  Palm — 
Lepers — Mary  and  Martha — Tomb  of  Lazarus — Castle  of  Lazarus — Mountains  and  Valleys 
Round  about  Jerusalem — Mount  of  Offence — Hill  of  the  Prophets — Mount  of  Olives  — Viri  Galilaei 
-Hill  of  Evil  Counsel — Scopus— First  View  of  Jerusalem  from  the  East — Entering  Jerusalem. 


EAVING  the  Ghor  behind  them,  the 
1  Holy  Family  and  the  band  of  pilgrims 
with  whom  they  were  in  company, 
would  pass  through  the  ford  of  Betha- 
bara,  and  turn  westward,  toward  the 
Holy  City.  Before  them  lay  the  Plain 
of  Jericho.  On  their  left,  but  not  far 
off,  was  a  place  of  renown  in  the  annals 
Israel. 


When  the  host  of  Israel  had  marched 
through  the  empty  bed  of  the  Jordan, 


ER-RIHA  THE  MODERN  JERICHO. 


Joshua  commanded  one  man  of  each  of  the  twelve  tribes,  to  take  out  of  the 
channel  of  the  river,  where  the  priest’s  feet  had  stood  firm,  twelve  stones 
which  were  to  be  carried  to  the  place  of  their  encampment  that  night 
(Josh,  iv:  1-3).  Those  twelve  stones  were  accordingly  set  up  at  Gilgal 
(Josh  iv.19).  Until  very  recently,  the  site  of  Gilgal  was  unknown,  but  it 
is  now  identified  at  Tell  Jiljalia,  a  mound  over  the  ancient  town,  and  Birket 
Jiljalia ,  a  pond  belonging  to  it.  Captain  Conder  supposes  that  the  twelve 
stones  taken  out  of  Jordan,  were  set  up  as  a  sort  of  miniature  Stonehenge. 
This  may,  or  may  not,  be  true,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  is  now  to  be  found, 
and  indeed,  stones  which  could  be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  single  men, 


o 

a 

> 

> 

z 

H 

> 

Z 

> 

H 

W 

H 

!> 

O 

c 

z 

■H 

o 

H 

ffi 

•W 

H 

W 

g 

*-d 

H 

> 

H 

HH 

O 

Z 


EHBS 


W&WMmki 


'  §g|®e8»'  '■'■  *  W>1§sl8v  5V sV 

T  •  ***  l  ...  . 


mm 


ipfeiKSft©' 

,x  -4i . . . ; " - .-  . . * * , j.lp 5m‘ .^gg* jgf  ix 


Hp 

•^r 


>>>> 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


257 


The  name  Jiljalia,  the  Arabic  equivalent  for  Gilgal,  still  lingers  in 
Palestine.  There  is  one  in  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  about  thirteen  miles  north 
of  Lydda,  which  is  probably  the  Gilgal  of  Josh  xii:  23;  another  still  further 
north;  a  third,  which  is  half-way  between  Tibneh  and  Shiloh,  seems  to  be 
the  Gilgal  above  Bethel,  so  often  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  prophet 


ARABS  IN  THE  PLAIN  OF  JORDAN. 


Elijah.  A  fourth  Gilgal,  which  has  not  been  identified,  was  in  “the  Plains 
of  Moreh”  (Dent,  xi:  30). 

It  was  at  none  of  these,  however,  but  at  Gilgal  in  the  Jordan  plain, 
about  four  miles  southwest  from  the  probable  place  of  passage  over  the 
river,  that  Joshua  kept  his  headquarters,  after  the  taking  of  Jericho  and  Ai 
(Joshua  ix:6;  x:6,  15,  43;  xiv:6).  At  this  Gilgal,  the  tabernacle  was  set 
up,  and  there  it  remained  until  it  was  removed  to  Shiloh  (Josh,  xviii:  1). 
At  the  same  Gilgal,  Samuel  made  his  yearly  circuit  as  judge  of  Israel 
(1  Sam.  vii :  1 6) ;  and  there,  after  Saul’s  victory  over  the  Ammonites,  the 
new  sovereign’s  authority  was  universally  acknowledged,  and  his  reign  was 


258 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


solemnly  inaugurated  with  great  rejoicing  (1  Sam.  xi:  14,  15).  Gilgal  seems 
to  have  retained  the  character  of  a  religious  center  or  sanctuary  after  the 
time  of  Joshua;  and,  early  in  the  days  of  the  judges,  an  “angel” — perhaps 
a  prophet — of  the  Lord,  was  sent  thence,  to  rebuke  the  people  for  making 
leagues  with  the  heathen  inhabitants  of  the  land  (Judg.  ii:  1).  Later  on, 
its  situation  and  importance  were  such,  that  it  was  deemed  to  be  the 
proper  place  for  the  people  of  Judah  to  meet  King  David,  when  he  re¬ 
turned  from  Mahanaim,  after  the  death  of  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xix:  15).  But 
the  inhabitants  of  Gilgal  at  last  fell  into  such  idolatry  as  to  be  denounced 
by  the  prophets  ITosea  and  Amos,  for  making  their  city  a  chief  place  of 
idolatrous  worship  (Hosea  iv:  15;  ix  115;  xii:n;  Amos  iv:4;  v : 5). 

A  little  to  the  south  of  Gilgal,  Beth- Ho gl oh ,  the  Haunt  of  Partridges , 
stood  on  the  boundary  line  which  separated  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  from 
that  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv:6;  xviii:  19).  It  is  still  known  by  the  name  of 
Ain-hajla  or  the  Fountain  of  Hoglah ,  from  the  finest  spring  to  be  found  in 
the  whole  Ghor.  The  sparkling  stream  which  gushes  forth  from  it  pro¬ 
duces  verdure  wherever  it  flows,  and  if  used  for  irrigation,  it  would  cause 
fertility  around  it  like  the  spring  at  En-Gannim.  But  it  is  not  used,  and  the 
surrounding  land,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  natural  oasis,  is  a  barren 
waste.  A  couple  of  miles  or  less  further  to  the  south  there  was,  until 
within  a  few  years  a  ruin  called  Kasr  Hajla ,  or  the  Tower  of  Hoglah, 
which  was  all  that  remained  of  an  old  monastery.  It  is  probable  that  this 
ruin  was  a  place  of  prayer  of  monks  of  the  order  of  St.  Basil,  who  wisely 
or  unwisely,  had  fled  from  the  turmoil  of  the  world,  more  than  fifteen  hun¬ 
dred  years  ago,  and  whose  successors  continued,  until  the  sixteenth  century, 
to  offer  hospitality  to  pilgrims.  For  three  hundred  years  it  was  deserted, 
but  in  1882  the  stones  of  the  old  ruin  were  removed  to  make  room  for  a 
new  monastery  at  the  same  spot. 

Five  miles  to  the  northwest  of  Gilgal,  four  hundred  feet  above  the 
Jordan,  near  the  base  of  a  rugged,  precipitous  and  forbidding  mountain, 
and  at  the  foot  of  a  great  mound  of  ruinous  debris ,  a  noble  spring  gushes 
from  the  rock,  pouring  its  water  into  an  old  basin,  about  forty  feet  long  by 
twenty-five  feet  broad,  and  built  of  hewn  stones.  The  mound  of  ruins  is 
all  that  now  remains  of  the  ancient  Canaanitish  city  of  Jericho,  the  City  of 
Palm  trees  (Deut.  xxxiv:  3;  Judg.  i:  16),  the  first  walled  town  taken  by  the 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


259 


Israelites  on  the  western  side  of  Jordan.  It  was  strongly  fortified;  but 
since  the  Israelites  were  able  to  march  round  it  seven  times  in  a  single  day 
(Josh.  vi:4),  it  can  have  been  of  no  great  size.  It  is  first  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  visit  to  it  of  the  spies  who  were  entertained  by  Rahab, 
and  who  made  a  covenant  with  her,  that,  when  the  city  should  be  taken, 
she  and  her  kindred  should  be  spared  (Josh,  ii:  1-22).  In  the  pursuit  of 


RAHAB  SAVING  THE  SPIES.  (JOSH.  Hi:  1 5). 


the  spies  after  their  escape,  the  fugitives  probably  hid  themselves,  as  they 
well  might,  in  the  cave-pierced  sides  of  the  gloomy  mountain  near  at  hand. 
By  a  special  miracle  Jericho  was  taken;  the  inhabitants  were  put  to  the 
sword,  and  the  whole  town  was  levelled  with  the  ground  (Josh,  vi:  1-21). 
There  is  not  the  least  reason  to  suppose  that  the  house  of  Rahab,  which 
was  built  upon  the  city  wall,  was  spared  in  the  general  destruction,  but 
that  trivial  circumstance  did  not  prevent  the  very  house  itself  from  being 


26o 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


shown  in  the  Middle  ages,  as  its  site  is  still  shown  to  travelers  of  our 
own  time.  After  the  destruction  of  Jericho,  Joshua  laid  this  curse  upon 
the  man  who  should  rebuild  it,  that  its  foundation  should  be  laid  in  his 
first-born  and  its  gates  set  up  in  his  youngest  son,  or,  in  other  words,  that 
his  children  should  perish  (Josh,  vi:  26).  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether 
Joshua  meant  to  forbid  the  building  of  dwellings  on  the  former  site  of 
Jericho.  Possibly  he  meant  only  to  forbid  the  building  of  a  fortified  city; 
but  certain  it  is  that  Jericho  was  ultimately  rebuilt,  though  the  curse  of 
Joshua  is  said  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  the  family  of  Hiel  (1  Kings 
xvi:  34).  When  restored,  it  became  a  place  of  importance,  and  either  in 
the  city,  or  in  its  immediate  vicinity,  was  established  one  of  the  schools 
of  the  prophets  (2  Kings  ii:  5,  7).  It  was  frequently  visited  by  the 
prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha.  It  was  from  Jericho  that  Elijah  set  out  with 
his  faithful  pupil  on  that  last  stage  of  his  earthly  journey,  which  was  to 
take  him  back  to  his  native  Gilead,  there  to  be  delivered  from  the  heavy 
burden  he  had  been  called  to  bear  (2  Kings  ii  *.4-6). 

Dr.  Tristram  has  no  doubt  that  the  great  spring  of  Jericho,  which  is 
now  called  by  the  Arabs  Ain  es  Sultan ,  or  the  Sultans  Spring ,  but  by  Eu¬ 
ropeans,  the  Spring  of  Elisha,  is  “beyond  question,  identical  with  the 
fountain  whose  bitter  waters  were  healed  by  the  prophet  Elisha”  (2  Kings 
ii:  19-22).  He  considers,  that  in  its  former  brackish  state,  which  it  shared 
with  many  other  springs  of  that  neighborhood,  its  waters,  though  disagree- 
ble  to  the  taste  and  unfit  for  drinking,  were  not  inimical  to  vegetation,  and 
especially  not  so  to  the  palm,  which  rejoices  in  saline  ground.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  the  water  or  Elisha’s  spring  is  now  sweet  and  wholesome, 
though  certainly  not  cool,  its  temperature  being  84  degrees  Fahrenheit. 

It  cannot  have  been  far  from  that  spring,  since  it  was  in  the  Plain  of 
Jericho,  that  the  luckless  King  Zedekiah  was  captured  by  the  Chal¬ 
deans,  after  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  (2  Kings  xxv:5). 
Jericho  shared  in  the  misfortunes  of  that  time  of  desolation.  When  it 
was  restored  we  do  not  know;  but  after  the  captivity,  three  hundred  and 
forty-five  heads  of  houses  returned  to  their  old  home  (Neh.  vii  136),  and 
the  men  of  Jericho  took  part  in  rebuilding  Jerusalem  (Neh.  iii :  2) .  From 
that  time  on,  Jericho  was  one  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  Jews.  For  a 
single  night,  the  great  Pompey  encamped  beside  it,  and  Antony  gave  it, 


KHAN  HADRUR,  THE  INN  OF  THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


263 


with  its  fruitful  plain,  as  a  royal  gift  of  Cleopatra.  It  was  then  especially 
renowned  for  its  gardens  of  balsam,  which  Dr.  Hooker  supposes  to  have 
been  the  zcikkuni ,  a  tropical  plant  which  still  flourishes  there,  and  yields  an 
oil  famous  for  its  healing  qualities.  Herod  farmed,  and  at  length  pur¬ 
chased,  Jericho  from  Cleopatra,  and  when  it  had  been  sacked  by  his  Ro¬ 
man  allies,  he  magnificently  rebuilt  and  fortified  it.  Jericho  was  not  his 


PLAIN  OF  JERICHO. 

capital,  but  his  winter  residence,  and  there  he  died.  It  was  in  an  amphi¬ 
theater  of  his  own  construction,  that  Salome  publicly  announced  the  death 
of  the  unlamented  tyrant.  Not  long  after  his  death,  the  splendid  city  of 
Herod  was  taken  and  burned,  by  a  rebellious  slave  called  Simon;  but  it 
was  again  rebuilt  by  Archelaus,  with  a  beauty  which  it  had  perhaps  not 
before  had.  Certainly,  the  plain  had  never  before  had  such  advantages 
as  Archelaus  gave  it,  for  he  built  aqueducts  from  a  village  called  Neaera, 
to  irrigate  the  lands,  and  he  made  extensive  plantations  of  palms,  so  that 
Jericho  again  became  a  “City  of  Palm  Trees.”  Its  streets  appear  to  have 


264 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


been  broad  enough  to  allow  the  growth  of  sycamores  for  shade  (Luke 
xix:4),  and  all  its  arrangements  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  in  the 
magnificent  and  sumptuous  fashion  which  was  characteristic  of  Herodian 
cities. 

In  all  probability,  the  beautiful  Jericho  of  Archelaus,  was  the  first  city, 
worthy  of  the  name,  that  the  Child  Jesus  ever  saw.  Independently  of  its 
beauty  and  novelty,  it  must  have  been  most  interesting  to  Him  from  the 
circumstance  that  Rahab,  whose  name  is  so  prominently  connected  with 
its  early  history,  had  become  the  wife  of  Salmon  (who  was  possibly  one  of 
the  spies  whose  lives  she  had  saved),  and  the  mother  of  Boaz,  the  hus¬ 
band  of  Ruth  (Matt.  1 : 5).  Rahab,  the  Canaanite,  therefore,  as  well  as 
Ruth,  the  Moabitess,  was  an  ancestress  of  Jesus  Christ.  Not  only  on  the 
occasion  of  his  first  journey  to  Jerusalem,  but,  as  it  seems,  often  afterward, 
Jesus  visited  the  new  old  city  of  Palm  Trees.  At  Jericho,  He  gave  sight 
to  two,  or  perhaps  it  may  have  been  three,  blind  men  (Matt.  xx:3o;  Mark 
x:46;  Luke  xviii:  35);  at  Jericho  He  was  entertained  at  the  house  of  Zac- 
cheus,  the  chief  publican,  or  superintendent  of  customs,  in  that  district, 
who  had  climbed  one  of  the  sycamores  which  lined  the  way,  in  order  to  see 
Jesus  pass  by;  and  it  was  in  the  road  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho  that 
He  chose  to  lay  the  scene  of  his  lovely  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan. 

After  the  time  of  Christ,  Jericho  was  destroyed  by  Vespasian,  but  it 
was  again  rebuilt,  and  still  existed  in  the  time  of  St.  Jerome.  Origen  found 
there  a  version  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  and  other  valuable  manu¬ 
scripts.  It  was  the  see  of  a  bishop,  who  was  dependent  on  the  See  of 
Jerusalem;  and  bishops  of  Jericho  took  part  in  several  church  councils  of 
the  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  After  awhile  the  city  fell  into  decay, 
and  has  never  again  been  rebuilt.  The  city  of  Herod  had  been  somewhat 
to  the  south  of  the  ancient  city  of  the  Canaanites,  and  if  there  was  a  city 
of  Jericho  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  it  must  have  been  more  than  a  mile 
further  to  the  southwest,  at  the  site  of  the  present  Er  Riha,  where  there 
is  a  large  square  castle,  or  redoubt,  which  must  have  been  built  in  that 
period,  and  which  is  foolishly  supposed  to  occupy  the  former  site  of  the 
house  of  Zaccheus.  In  the  time  of  the  Crusades  the  Plain  of  Jericho  was 
immensely  productive;  it  was  assigned  to  the  Knights  Templars  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  and  was  considered  to  be  worth  125,000  of  yearly  revenue.  This  was 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


265 


an  enormous  sum  in  that  age,  and  was  chiefly  derived  from  the  culture  of 
sugar  cane,  for  it  is  a  curious  fact  that,  before  America  was  discovered, 
sorghum  cane  was  successfully  cultivated  at  Jericho.  Not  far  from  the 
great  spring  of  Elisha  are  the  remains  of  an  old  sugar  mill,  formerly  used 
by  the  Templars.  It  is  called  Tawahin  es  Sukkar,  but  the  aqueducts  are 
broken  down,  and  the  building  has  become  a  mere  shelter  for  cattle. 

The  rugged  mountain  which  rises  behind  the  Fountain  of  Elisha  and  the 


THE  FALL  OF  JERICHO.  (JOSH.  VI :  20). 


site  of  ancient  Jericho  is  Mount  Quarantania,  or  the  Mountain  of  the  Forty 
Days ,  now  called  Jehel  Karantel.  It  is  the  reputed  scene  of  the  Tempta¬ 
tion  of  Christ.  The  tradition  which  connects  that  awful  event  of  the 
Saviour’s  life  with  Mount  Quarantania  may  be  more  ancient  than  the  time 
of  the  Crusades,  but  it  had  been  well  said  by  one  who  is  not  too  prone  to 
credit  ecclesiastical  traditions,  that,  rising,  as  it  does,  naked  and  arid,  like  a 


266 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


mountain  of  malediction,  imagination  sees  in  it  a  fit  place  to  be  the  haunt 
of  evil  influences — a  place  where,  in  the  language  of  the  prophets,  “the  owls 
dwell  and  the  satyrs  dance.”  There  for  forty  days  was  Jesus  with  the  wild 
beasts  and  in  the  chosen  home  of  the  vulture;  driven  thither  of  the  Spirit 
to  be  tempted  of  the  devil;  and  yet  guarded  by  angels,  so  that  the  beasts 
were  powerless  to  hurt  Him.  Perhaps  in  the  daytime,  or  in  the  solemn 
season  of  His  nightly  watchings,  he  looked  down  from  the  grim  crest  of 
Quarantania,  upon  the  winding  stream  of  the  Jordan,  as  the  sons  of  the 
prophets  had  long  before  looked  down  from  the  same  spot,  when  the 
world  worn  prophet  of  Carmel  was  passing  over  to  the  scene  of  his  deliver¬ 
ance  (2  Kings  ii:  7,  15). 

So  steep  and  dangerous  are  the  precipitous  sides  of  Jebel  Karantel 
that  persons  liable  to  dizziness  are  warned  not  to  attempt  to  ascend  them, 
and  in  all  cases  a  guide  is  considered  as  necessary  as  in  climbing  the  Alps. 
Even  Dr.  Thomson  did  not  care  to  try  that  difficult  ascent;  and  on  one 
occasion,  when  he  might  have  done  so,  the  caves  which  abound  on  the 
mountain  side  were  occupied  by  robbers,  so  that  no  one  could  venture  to 
approach.  Canon  Tristram,  happily,  did  visit  them  with  a  party  of 
travelers,  and  his  account  of  those  curious  caves  is  extremely  interesting. 
He  says: 

“On  the  eastern  side  are  some  forty  habitable  caves  and  chapels;  and 
probably  there  is  a  much  larger  number  on  the  south  face,  in  the  gorge  of 
the  Kelt.  These  caves  have  all  been  approached  by  staircases  and  paths 
hewn  out  of  the  face  of  the  rock;  but  time  and  water  have  worn  away 
many  of  these,  and  left  the  upper  caverns,  in  some  cases,  wholly  inacces¬ 
sible.  The  lowest  range  ol  caves  is  close  to  the  slopping  debris ,  and  they 
are  still  tenanted  by  the  Arabs,  who  use  them  for  sheep-folds  and  donkey- 
stables,  and  sometimes,  as  we  discovered,  for  corn  and  straw  depots. 
The  next  tier  is  easily  reached;  and  generally  every  spring  a  few  devout 
Abyssinian  Christians  are  in  the  habit  of  coming  and  remaining  here  for 
forty  days,  to  keep  their  Lent  on  the  spot  where  they  suppose  our  Lord  to 
have  fasted  and  been  tempted. 

“This  tier  is  easy  accessible  to  any  one  with  a  steady  head.  The  way 
to  it  is  by  a  niche  hollowed  in  the  side  of  the  precipice.  The  ground  floor 
of  these  cells,  if  the  expression  may  apply  to  such  aerial  dwellings,  appears 


FIELD  OF  BETHANY. 


- 

. 


- 


■ 


* 


\ 


. 


. 

' 

■ 

' 

■'  J?8 


feet  to  the  right.  These  tubs  are  neatly  concealed  in  the  rock,  and  quite 
out  of  the  reach  of  any  attack.” 

In  the  third  chamber,  which  was  reached  with  difficulty,  through  “a 
small  hole  scooped  out  of  the  native  rock,  were  three  consecutive  chambers, 
with  a  well-arched  front  of  fine,  dressed  stone,  and  various  arched  door- 


PALM  TREES. 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM.  269 

• 

to  have  been  a  series  of  chambers,  with  recesses  hollowed  for  beds  and 
for  cup-boards.  There  are  four  of  these  apartments,  opening  into  each 
other,  the  natural  caverns  having  been  artificially  enlarged.  Below  is  a 
well-plastered  reservoir  or  tank,  to  which  the  water  has  formerly  been  con¬ 
veyed  through  cement-lined  stone  tubs,  from  the  waterfall,  several  hundred 


2yo 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


ways  and  windows  looking  east,  all  lined  with  frescoes,  of  which  the  faces 
alone  had  been  chipped  out  by  the  Moslem  iconoclasts.  The  center 
room  was  evidently  a  chapel,  covered  with  Byzantine  paintings  of  saints, 
and  had  an  apse  in  the  east  front,  with  a  small  lancet  window.  The  dome 
of  the  apse  was  filled  by  a  fresco  of  our  Lord,  with  a  Greek  inscription 
over  it.” 

Canon  Tristram,  and  his  party,  climbed,  with  the  aid  of  a  rope,  through 
another  hole  in  the  rock,  “and,  with  a  short  exercise  of  the  chimney-sweep’s 
art,”  found  themselves  “in  a  third  tier  of  cells,  similar  to  the  lower  ones, 
and  covered  with  the  undisturbed  dust  of  ages.  Behind  the  chapel  was  a 
dark  cave,  with  an  entrance  eighteen  inches  high,  full  of  human  bones  and 
skulls,  with  dust  several  inches  deep.  We  were  in  the  burial-place  of  the 
anchorites.  The  skeletons  were  laid  east  and  west,  awaiting  the  resurrec¬ 
tion.”  Still  higher  did  the  party  climb,  only  to  find  similar  cells,  chapels 
and  caverns  strewn  with  human  bones  and  skulls.  There  were  some  inscrip¬ 
tions,  but  they  were  of  no  historical  value. 

Thus  it  appears  that  for  ages  and  ages,  the  scene  of  Christ’s  tempta¬ 
tion,  which  one  might  suppose  would  be  avoided  by  those  who  wished  to 
avoid  temptation,  was  chosen  as  a  permanent  home  by  successive  genera¬ 
tions  of  men,  who  were  devout  in  their  purpose,  however  mistaken  in  the 
means  by  which  they  sought  to  attain  to  sanctity.  If  they  had  read  the 
writings  of  St.  Jerome  they  might  have  learned  from  his  experience,  as 
they  doubtless  did  from  their  own,  that  solitude  affords  no  refuge  from 
temptation  to  sin.  From  some  sins  there  is  no  escape  save  in  flight;  but 
to  flee  into  the  desert  is  to  Tush  into  the  very  presence  and  company  of 
the  enemy. 

The  Plain  of  Jericho  is  now  almost  entirely  barren.  Besides  the  spring 
of  Elisha,  there  is  another  spring  of  equal  magnitude,  about  two  miles  fur¬ 
ther  up.  It  is  called  Ain  Duk ,  and  is  probably  at  the  site  of  the  ancient 
fortress  of  Docus .  If  used  for  purposes  of  irrigation,  the  water  from  these 
two  springs  might  suffice  to  make  a  large  part  of  the  plain  as  prolific  as 
ever.  There  is  hardly  anything  which  might  not  be  successfully  cultivated 
there.  The  palm,  the  balsam,  the  sugar  cane,  have,  at  different  times,  en¬ 
riched  the  district,  but,  like  the  sycamores  of  the  time  of  Christ,  they  have 
wholly  disappeared.  Cotton  is  believed  to  have  been  cultivated  in  ancient 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM.  271 

times.  With  proper  irrigation,  nearly  every  species  of  grain  would  grow 
luxuriantly,  and  Indian  corn  is  said  to  yield  two  crops  in  a  single  sea¬ 
son.  Yet  the  plain  is  desolate,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  gardens,  and 
patches  of  wheat  and  tobacco,  which  the  inhabitants  raise  for  their  own 
consumption.  For  fruits,  they  are  content  with  the  large  clusters  of  grapes 
which  grow  over  their  huts.  Wherever  water  reaches  the  soil,  an  abnn- 


JOSHUA  AND  THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  LORD’S  HOST.  (JOSH.  V:  1 3— 1 5. ) 

dance  of  luxuriant  vegetation  shows  the  wealth  that  waits  only  for  industry 
to  bring  it  forth.  Perhaps  the  most  characteristic  growth  of  the  Plain  of 
Jericho  is  now  the  apple  of  Sodom,  as  it  is  called,  a  woody  shrub,  growing 
to  a  height  of  three  or  four  feet,  with  broad  leaves  which  are  woolly  on  the 
under  side.  The  fruit  resembles  the  apple,  and  is  first  yellow  and  then 
red.  It  is  said  to  be  nauseous  beyond  description,  and,  when  fully  ripe,  it 
contains,  within  its  beautiful  rind,  nothing  but  dry  seeds  and  a  dusty  pow- 


272 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


der.  From  this  fruit,  which  grows  extensively  on  the  shores  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  poets  have  borrowed  the  simile  of 


“Dead  Sea  fruits  that  tempt  the  eye, 
But  turn  to  ashes  on  the  lips.” 


The  modern  village,  if  it  can  be  called  so,  of  Er  Riha  preserves  the 
name  of  the  ancient  Jericho,  but  is  more  than  a  mile  from  the  ancient  site. 
It  is  nothing  more  than  a  collection  of  wretched  hovels,  inhabited  by  peo- 
pie  of  the  most  wretched  sort,  whom  some  travelers  believe  to  be  really  of 

gypsy  stock.  They  are  among 
the  rudest  and  most  degrad¬ 
ed  of  the  inhabitants  of  Pal¬ 
estine,  and  are  addicted  to 
o  vices  of  the  most  disgusting 
^  character. 

From  Jericho  to  Jerusa- 

<  lem,  is  only  a  distance  of  some 
^  thirteen  miles,  yet  the  road  is 
d  one  continual  ascent,  since 

Q 

j|  Jerusalem  is  3,600  feet  higher 

<  than  Jericho.  About  two 

°  miles  east  of  Jericho,  the  pil- 

~  grims  would  come  to  one  of 

w  the  wildest  and  most  roman¬ 
ce 

tic  scenes  in  all  the  Holy 
Land.  It  is  now  called  Wady 
Kelt,  a  gloomy  mountain  gorge 
500  feet  high,  cut  by  the 
torrent  through  the  solid  rock, and  with  sides  so  precipitously  perpen¬ 
dicular,  that  only  the  coney  and  the  ibex  can  attempt  to  scale  them.  At 
the  bottom  of  this  frightful  chasm,  is  a  stream  less  than  fifty  feet  in  width, 
on  which  the  sun  shines  but  a  few  minutes  in  the  day,  with  beds  of  reeds 
and  rushes,  and  with  oleanders  fringing  its  sides.  Above  and  beyond  the 
gorge  are  chalk  hills,  rising  in  fantastic  shapes,  but  utterly  bare  of  trees  and 
herbage.  Within  the  two  frowning  cliffs,  which  gloomily  confront  each 
other,  are  caves  and  caverns,  now  wholly  inaccessible,  but  once  inhabited 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM.  275 

by  Christian  monks,  who  thought  to  find  God  where  no  man  might  safely 
find  them;  and  between  these  upright  walls  of  nature’s  masonry,  ravens,, 
eagles  and  vultures  sail  in  undisturbed  security.  This  place  of  unimagina¬ 
ble  solitude  and  grandeur,  is  thought,  by  Dr.  Robinson  and  others,  to  be 
the  Brook  (or  torrent)  of  Cherith,  where  Elijah  hid  himself  during  the 
great  drought  which  he  foretold  to  King  Ahab  (1  Kings  xvii:  i-S).  There 


ASCENT  OF  ELIJAH.  (2  KINGS  III  9—  II.) 

he  might  well  feel  secure  from  the  pursuit  of  his  enemies,  and  there  the 
Lord  commanded  the  ravens  to  feed  him  day  by  day.  If  the  word  trans¬ 
lated  ravens  can,  as  it  is  said,  be  properly  translated  Arabs ,  the  providence 
which  watched  over  the  prophet  in  his  time  of  danger  was  surely  none  the 
less;  for  the  Arabs  of  that  district  are  as  wild  as  ravens,  and  much  more 
dangerous. 

In  modern,  as  in  ancient  times,  the  road  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho 
is  haunted  by  robbers.  Now,  as  then,  the  traveler  is  entirely  likely  to  “fall 


276 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


among  thieves.”  Mr.  Henry  A.  Harper,  the  amusing  author  of  “Walks  in 
Palestine,”  tells  how  he  came  near  suffering  from  a  misunderstanding  of  one 
of  these  freebooters  of  the  desert.  The  Turkish  government  has  been 
obliged  to  give  to  a  certain  sheikh,  living  not  far  from  Bethany,  the  official 
right,  for  a  consideration,  “to  protect”  travelers  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Jerusalem,  which  is  very  much  the  same  as  a  right  to  exact  moderate  black¬ 
mail.  Mr.  Harper,  having  made  the  proper  arrangements,  as  he  supposed, 
one  day  went  quietly  sketching,  and  was  unpleasantly  interrupted  by  the 
ping!  of  a  rifle  shot  in  uncomfortable  proximity  to  his  person.  Presently,  the 
man  who  had  coolly  shot  at  him,  came  to  his  feet  wth  the  amplest  apologies. 
He  had  simply  seen  a  stranger,  apparently  without  “protection,”  and  with 
the  true  Arab  instinct,  had  tried  to  kill  him  for  such  plunder  as  the  murder 
might  bring.  When  he  discovered  that  the  stranger  was  really  under  the 
protection  of  the  sheikh,  he  was  horrified  at  the  crime  he  had  come  near 
committing!  Such  is  Arab  morality.  The  poor  traveler  who  “fell  among 
thieves”  not  many  miles  from  the  same  spot,  was,  perhaps,  beset  by  the 
lineal  ancestors  of  the  Arab  of  Mr.  Harper’s  adventure,  who,  it  is  proper  to 
to  say,  afterward  acted  as  escort,  and  proved  to  be  a  very  good  one,  to  the 
man  at  whom  he  had  so  instinctively  taken  a  shot. 

Six  or  seven  miles,  through  a  rough  and  uninteresting  country,  would 
bring  the  travelers  to  the  half-way  resting-place  between  Jerusalem  and 
Jericho.  It  is  now  called  Ha  drier  Khan,  and  consists  of  some  ruins  situated 
on  a  knoll  in  a  wild  but  dreary  region.  The  ruins  are  not  very  ancient,  but 
the  tenacity  with  which  the  orientals  cling  to  old  customs  and  old  places, 
as  well  as  its  position  midway  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho,  makes  it 
very  likely  that  here  was  the  inn  which  our  Lord  had  in  mind  in  the  para¬ 
ble  of  the  good  Samaritan.  It  has  now  no  host,  and  furnishes  no  enter¬ 
tainment  for  man  or  beast;  but  at  that  time,  this  half-way  house  must 
have  been  a  halting  place  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  kept  up  for  the 
regular  entertainment  of  travelers.  Indeed,  it  is  altogether  probable,  that 
our  Saviour  Himself,  not  only  in  His  first  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  but 
often  afterward,  must  have  rested  at  this  very  spot  or  near  it.  Both  as  a 
Child  and  on  that  last  journey  to  a  Passover  at  which  He  Himself  was  to 
be  the  victim  of  the  Sacrifice,  it  can  do  no  harm  to  suppose  that  He  took 
His  rest  at  Hadrur  Kahn. 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


2  77 


After  two  hours  more  of  travel  through  a  country  of  no  particular 
interest,  but  always  rising  higher  and  higher  above  the  plain  they  had  left 
behind,  the  pilgrims  would  pass  through  a  valley  called  Wady  cl  Hod , 
where  Shimei  cursed  and  cast  stones  at  David  when  fleeing  from  Absalom ; 
and  on  the  western  slope  of  the  valley  they  would  ascend  to  a  spring  which 
is  called  Ain  el  Hod ,  but  which  Christians  call  the  Apostles  Spring , 
because  the  apostles  must  often  have  visited  it  with  their  Master.  It  is 


THE  BLIND  MEN  AT  JERICHO,  (MATT.  XX:  30.) 


supposed  to  be En-shemesh,  or  the  “  Sun  Spring,"  mentioned  in  Josh,  xv:  7 
A  little  beyond  the  spring  they  would  reach  a  plateau  whence  they  could 
look  back  upon  their  track  from  the  Jordan.  There  the  mountains  of 
Moab  and  Gilead  would  be  plainly  visible  against  the  eastern  sky,  above 
the  Plain  of  Jordan  and  Jericho;  and  far  below  the  height  of  the  spot  on 
which  they  stood,  the  peak  of  Quarantania  would  be  seen,  softened  in  the 


278 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


distance.  On  the  west  they  would  behold  the  Mount  of  Olives  rising 
beyond  a  narrow  valley,  and  about  a  mile  below  its  summit,  at  the  foot  of 
an  intervening  ridge  or  swelling  of  the  mount,  they  would  see  before  them, 

at  a  distance  of  one  third  of  a 
mile,  the  village  of  Bethany ,  the 
House  of  Dates,  or  perhaps  more 

Sorrow.  Not  far  from  Bethany, 
probably  to  the  east  of  it,  but  in 
a  spot  which  cannot  now  be  as¬ 
certained,  they  would  also  see  the 
village  of  Bcth-phage ,  the  House 
of(unripe)  Figs.  The  hump  or 
secondary  ridge  beside  which 
Bethany  is  situated,  intercepts 
the  view  of  the  crest  of  Olivet 
from  the  village,  but  from  the  plateau  of  El  Hod  the  whole  of  the  little 
valley  and  of  the  mountain  beyond  is  entirely  visible.  Tradition  has  it 
that  it  was  to  the  plateau  of  El  Hod  that  Martha  went  to  meet  Jesus 
after  the  death  of  her  brother  Lazarus;  and  with  the  confidence  of  perfect 
certainty,  though  there  can  be  no  possible  certainty  in  the  case,  the  very 
spot  of  that  meeting  is  still  shown  to  the  traveler. 

Nothing  whatever  is  said  of  Bethany  in  the  Old  Testament.  Its 
whole  interest  consists  in  this,  that  our  Saviour  had  there  something  more 
nearly  like  a  home  than  He  ever  had  elsewhere  after  He  left  the  home  of 
his  childhood  at  Nazareth,  and  that  it  was  the  scene  of  his  most  famous 
miracle,  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  If  its  name  signified  the  House  of  Dates, 
the  palm  tree  must  have  been  cultivated  there,  but  it  has  now  disappeared. 
The  palm  is  a  tree  of  the  desert  and  the  valley,  not  of  the  mountains;  but 
because  of  its  rarity,  the  cultivation  of  a  few  palms  in  a  mountain  district 
would  be  quite  likely  to  attract  attention  and  to  give  the  name  of  the  tree 
or  its  fruit  to  the  place  where  they  grew.  That  some  palms  did  grow  at 
Bethany  in  our  Saviour’s  time  we  know,  since  at  His  entry  into  Jerusalem, 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week  of  His  passion,  the  people  took  branches  of 
palm  trees  and  went  forth  to  meet  Him,  crying  “Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 


properly  called  the  House  of 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


279 


David”  (John  xii:  13),  an  incident  from  which  that  day  in  the  Christian 
calendar  takes  its  name  of  Palm  Sunday.  If  Bethany  signifies  the  Elouse 
of  Sorrow,  or  the  House  of  Poverty,  a  good  reason  for  that  name  may  well 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  lepers,  the  most  sorrowfully  hopeless,  and  gener¬ 
ally  the  poorest  and  most  forlorn,  of  all  human  beings,  were  allowed  to 
dwell  there  (Matt,  xxvi:  6;  Mark  xiv:  3).  From  a  distance  Bethany,  lying 
as  it  does,  below  the  reddish-brown  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  is  said, 
by  enthusiastic  travelers,  to  present  a  picture  of  perfect  retirement  and 
repose,  of  calm  seclusion  and  peace;  but  a  nearer  approach  brings  a  less 
pleasing  view.  It  is  a  woody  hollow  with  gardens  or  orchards  planted 
with  fruit-trees,  olives,  fig-trees,  almonds,  pomegranates  and  carobs,  but 
the  village  itself  is  a  wretched  and  ruinous  hamlet  of  forty  flat-roofed  mud 
hovels.  The  inhabitants  are  a 
rough  and  squalid  people 
whose  chief  occupation  is  to 
beg  from  travelers,  and  who 
know  how  to  be  as  impudent  as 
they  are  importunate.  The 
name  of  Bethany  has  passed 
away,  and  is  now  replaced  by 
El  Azariy eh,  or,  as  Dean  Stan¬ 
ley  spells  it,  El  Lazariyeh ,  a 
name  which  is  evidently  de¬ 
rived  from  that  of  Lazarus, 
who  lived  and  died,  and  was 
raised  from  the  dead  in  that 
place.  The  house  in  which  he 
lived  with  his  sisters  Martha 
and  Mary  is  shown  to  this  day, 
but  it  is  absolutely  certain 
that  no  such  house  can  have  existed  for  eighteen  centuries.  His  tomb 
also  is  shown,  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  it  cannot  be  the  tomb 
mentioned  in  the  Gospel.  St.  John  says  that  Martha  went  to  meet 
Jesus,  and  then  returned  and  brought  her  sister  Mary  to  meet  Him, 
when  he  “was  not  yet  come  into  the  town.”  The  narrative  gives  it 


APPLES  OF  SODOM. 


280 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


clearly  to  be  understood  that  they  went  directly  to  the  tomb  without 
entering  the  town;  and  besides,  the  Jews  never  made  their  tombs  within 
the  precincts  of  their  towns.  In  the  vicinity  of  Bethany  there  are  cave- 
tombs  which  might  be  closed  with  a  great  stone,  and  which  would  answer 
perfectly  to  the  account  of  the  tomb  from  which  Lazarus  was  raised.  But 

the  place  which  is  now 
shown  as  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus  is  within  the  vil¬ 
lage.  It  is  an  under¬ 
ground  chamber  twelve 
feet  square,  to  which 
there  is  a  descent  of 
twenty-six  steps,  and 
within  the  chamber  a 
vault  where  the  body  of 
Lazarus  is  said  to  have 
been  laid.  In  such  a 
place,  the  people  could 
not  have  stood  around  as 
they  are  said  to  have 
done;  and  to  conform  to 
the  circumstances  of  that 
place,  the  language  of  the 
narrative  must  have  been 
considerably  different 
from  that  which  St.  John 

ARAB  ROBBERS  ON  THE  JERICHO  ROAD.  USeS.  The  truth  is  that 

for  the  localities  assigned  to  the  house  of  Lazarus,  to  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus,  and  to  the  house  of  Simon  the  Leper,  which  is  also  shown,  there 
is  not  a  particle  of  authority  or  probability.  They  are  mere  guesses;  and 
there  is  just  as  little  reason  for  the  name  given  to  an  old  tower  which  is 
the  most  conspicuous  object  of  El  Azariyeh,  and  which  is  called  the  Castle 
of  Lazarus.  The  tower  is  probably  much  older  than  the  time  of  the 
Crusaders,  but  what  its  purpose  or  its  history  may  have  been  is  wholly 
unknown.  The  true  interest  of  Bethany  consists,  not  in  those  special 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM.  281 

featu  es,  but  in  the  fact  that  somewhere  near  them  Jesus  spent  many  days 
and  seme  of  the  last  nights  of  His  earthly  life,  that  He  uttered  here  some 
of  the  loveliest  of  his  lessons — among  them  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,  and  that  there  He  wrought  the  last,  the  most  renowned  and 
the  most  impressive  of  all  his  wonderful  works. 

Whether  the  human  mind  of  the  Child  Jesus  had  any  prevision  of 
those  future  events  and  associations,  as  He  descended  from  the  plateau  of 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN.  (LUKE  X!  3 1— 37. ) 

El  Hod,  and  passed  through  the  village  of  Bethany,  it  is  useless  to  inquire, 
but  one  would  fain  hope  that  it  did  not.  At  that  moment  all  hearts  would 
be  beating  high  at  the  thought  that  in  a  few  minutes  they  would  be  in  full 
view  of  the  Holy  City,  and  that  within  an  hour  their  feet  would  stand  within 
its  gates.  We  need  not  suppose  that  the  human  mind  of  the  Child  Jesus 
was  burdened  with  a  foresight  of  the  dreadful  tragedy,  in  which,  twenty 


282 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


years  later,  and  in  that  royal  city  of  his  earthly  forefathers,  He  was  Him¬ 
self  to  be  the  victim.  If  He  had  then  foreseen  all  that,  His  would 
hardly  have  been  a  human  childhood.  But  His  childhood  was  as  real  as 
H  is  humanity.  Like  other  children,  even  He  must  grow  in  knowledge  and 
experience,  as  in  stature;  and  as  God  mercifully  veils  from  us  in  early  life 
the  trials  and  sufferings  which  lie  before  us,  so  we  may  believe,  though  with 
all  reverent  reserve,  that  the  childhood  of  Jesus  was  allowed  the  untroubled 

serenity  and  hopeful  joy  which  prop¬ 
erly  belongs  to  childhood.  To  Him, 
therefore,  as  to  other -boys  in  the  pil¬ 
grim  company,  we  may  suppose  that 
the  moment  when  He  was  about  to  look 
for  the  first  time  upon  Jerusalem 
would  be  a  moment  of  intense  and  glad 
expectancy.  With  quickened  step 
the  pilgrims  would  walk  down  to 
Bethany,  and  passing  through  it  they 
would  skirt  the  secondary  hill  on  which 
it  stood  and  take  the  road  which 
winds  around  the  southern  face  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives. 

On  their  left,  as  they  walked  west¬ 
ward,  they  would  have  the  Mount  of 
Offence ,  “that  approbrious  hill,”  as  Mil- 
ton  calls  it,  on  which  the  idolatrous 
temples  of  King  Solomon  are  supposed  to  have  been  reared,  and  which  is 
really  the  most  southerly  of  four  crests  or  elevations  of  the  continuous  range 
of  Olivet.  On  their  right  the  pilgrims  would  have  the  second  of  these  ele¬ 
vations,  which  is  called  the  Hill  of  the  Prophets.  North  of  that  hill  is  the 
Mount  of  Olives  proper,  which  is  now  called  by  the  Arabs  Jebel  et  Tur,  but 
by  Christians  the  Mount  of  Ascension,  On  its  summit  stands  the  Church 
of  the  Ascension,  enclosing  a  chapel  which  is  said  to  mark  the  spot  from 
which  our  Saviour  “was  taken  up”  (Actsi:  2).  Beyond  the  Mount  of  the 
Ascension  is  another,  and  still  higher  elevation,  called  Viri  Galilaei,  from  a 
tradition  that  it  was  there  that  the  angel  said  to  the  disciples  “Ye  men  of 
Galilee,  why  stand  ye  here  gazing  up  into  heavens?”  (Acts  i:  11).  These 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


283 


four  crests  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  rise  on  the  east  of  Jerusalem;  but  beyond 
the  city  the  height  sweeps  around  to  the  west,  and  there,  facing  the  north¬ 
ern  wall,  rises  Mount  Scopus,  where  Titus  and  his  legions  encamped  for 
the  great  siege  which  ended  in  the  utter  destruction  of  the  Holy  City,  as 
Jesus  had  foretold.  Closely  fronting  the  city  on  the  south,  but  separated 
from  it  by  an  inter¬ 
vening  ravine,  is  the 
Hill  of  Evil  Counsel , 
so  called  because  of 
a  tradition  that  on 
that  hill  the  High 
Priest  Caiaphashad 
a  country  house 
where  he  and  the 
elders  of  the  people 
“took  counsel  to¬ 
gether  to  put  Jesus 
to  death”  (John  xi: 

47-53).  On  its  sum¬ 
mit  stands  a  soli¬ 
tary  tree  which  is  a 
landmark  to  travel¬ 
ers  approaching  Je¬ 
rusalem  from  the 
south ;  and,  at  the 
foot  of  the  ill- 
omened  hill  lies  the 
P  otte  r ’s  Field  , 
bought  with  the 
price  of  Christ's 
blood,  which  the  murderers  of  Christ  thought  it  not  lawful  to  put  into  the 
treasury  when  the  traitor  Judas,  in  despairing  remorse,  cast  it  down 
at  their  feet  (Matt.  xN:vii:  3-10).  Thus,  on  three  sides  at  least,  do 
the  mountains  “stand  round  about  Jerusalem;”  on  the  north,  Scopus; 
on  the  east,  the  heights  of  Olivet;  on  the  south,  the  Hill  of  Evil 


MEETING  OF  JESUS  WITH  MARY  AND  MARTHA. 


284 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


Counsel.  On  the  southwest,  too,  there  are  hills,  but  of  no  great  height. 
Between  the  city  and  its  mountainous  environment  run  two  deep  ravines; 
that  on  the  north  and  east  being  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  otherwise  called 
the  Valley  of  the  Brook  Kedron;  and  that  on  the  west  and  south  being 
called  the  Valley  of  Hinnom.  The  modern  name  of  the  former  is  Wady 
Sitti  Mariam,  ox  the  Valley  of  our  Lady  Mary;  the  modern  name  of  the 
latter  is  Wady  er  Rababi,  and  these  two  ravines,  running  together,  make  the 
deep  gorge  which  divides  the  Mount  of  Offence  from  the  Hill  of  Evil 
Counsel.  Within,  and  almost  surrounded  by  these  valleys,  rises  Jerusalem, 
itself  of  mountainous  height,  though  not  so  high  as  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
The  plateau  upon  which  the  Temple  stood  is  2441  feet  above  sea-level, 
while  the  Mount  of  the  Ascension  is  196  feet,  and  Viri  Galilaei  is  282  feet 
higher.  It  was  not  the  mountains  which  stood  round  about  it,  which  made 
the  situation  of  Jerusalem  so  strong  against  attack,  but  the  deep  gorges  of 
the  Kedron  and  of  Hinnom,  from  which  the  sides  of  the  city  rose  in  steeps 
surmounted  by  lofty  walls  and  towers.  In  looking  at  pictures,  and  especi¬ 
ally  at  photographs,  of  Jerusalem  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  invari¬ 
ably  fail  to  show  the  steepness  of  these  gorges,  and  so  to  impress  us  with 
the  immense  strength  of  the  defensive  position  of  Jerusalem  in  times 
when  the  use  of  artillery  was  unknown. 

Travelers  approaching  Jerusalem,  as  they  usually  do,  from  the  west, 
seldom  feel  greatly  impressed  by  the  aspect  of  the  city.  The  general 
feeling  is  simply  expressed  by  the  remark  of  one,  “I  am  strangely 
affected,  but  greatly  disappointed!”  Lieutenant  Lynch,  however,  was 
astonished  at  the  magnificence  of  his  first  view  of  Jerusalem;  but  that  was 
because,  unlike  the  great  majority  of  travelers,  he  approached  it  from  the 
Jordan,  by  the  Jericho  road  through  Bethany,  and  had  his  first  view  from 
the  same  spot  from  which  Jesus  first  looked  down  upon  Jerusalem.  “No 
human  being,”  says  Dean  Stanley,  “could  be  disappointed  who  first  saw 
Jerusalem  from  the  east.  The  beauty  consists  in  this,  that  you  can  then 
burst  at  once  on  the  two  great  ravines  which  cut  the  city  off  from  the  sur¬ 
rounding  table-land,  and  that  then  you  only  have  a  complete  view  of  the 
Mosque  of  Omar.  The  other  buildings  of  Jerusalem  which  emerge  from 
the  mass  of  gray  ruin  and  white  stones  are  few,  and  for  the  most  part 
unattractive.  The  white  mass  of  the  American  Convent  on  the  south,  and 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM 


285 


the  dome  of  the  Mosque  of  David — the  Castle,  with  Herod’s  Tower  on  the 
southwest  corner — the  two  domes,  black  and  white,  which  surmount  the 
Holy  Sepulcher  and  the  Basilica  of  Constantine — the  green  corn-field 
which  covers  the  ruins  of  the  Palace  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John — the  long 
yellow  mass  of  the  Latin  Convent  at  the  northwest  corner,  and  the  gray 
tower  of  the  Mosque  of  the  Dervishes  on  the  traditional  site  of  the 
Palace  of  Herod  Antipas  in  the  northeast  corner — these  are  the  only  objects 


TOMB  OF  LAZARUS,  BETHANY. 


which  break  from  various  points  the  sloping  or  level  lines  of  the  city  of 
the  Crusaders  and  Saracens.  But  none  of  these  is  sufficient  to  elevate  its 
character.  What,  however,  these  fail  to  effect,  is  in  one  instant  effected 
by  a  glance  at  the  Mosque  of  Omar.  From  whatever  point  that  graceful 
dome,  with  its  beautiful  precinct  emerges  to  view,  it  at  once  dignifies  the 
whole  city.  And  when,  from  Olivet,  or  from  the  Governor’s  house,  or  from 
the  northeast  wall,  you  see  the  platform  on  which  it  stands,  it  is  a  scene 
hardly  to  be  surpassed.  A  dome  graceful  as  that  of  St.  Peter’s,  though, 
of  course,  on  a  far  smaller  scale,  rising  from  an  elaborately  finished  circu- 


286 


FROM  JORDAN  TO  JERUSALEM. 


lar  edifice — this  edifice  raised  on  a  square  marble  platform  rising  on  the 
highest  ridge  of  a  green  slope,  which  descends  from  it  north,  south  and 
east  to  the  walls  surrounding  the  whole  enclosure — platform  and  enclosure 
diversified  by  lesser  domes  and  fountains,  by  cypresses,  and  olives,  and 
planes,  and  palms — the  whole  as  secluded  and  quiet  as  the  interior  of 
some  college  or  cathedral  garden — only  enlivened  by  the  white  figures  of 
veiled  women  stealing  like  ghosts  up  and  down  the  green  slope,  or  by  the 
turbaned  heads  bowed  low  in  the  various  niches  for  prayer — this  is  the 
Mosque  of  Omar,  the  Haram-es-Sherif,  “the  Noble  Sanctuary,”  the  second 
most  sacred  place  in  the  Mohammedan  world — that  is,  the  next  after 
Mecca;  the  second  most  beautiful  mosque — that  is,  the  next  after  Cor¬ 
dova.” 

On  the  same  platform  where  the  Mosque  of  Omar  now  stands,  there, 
when  our  Saviour  first  gazed  upon  the  same  scene,  stood  the  beautiful 
Temple  of  Elerod.  Where  the  followers  of  Mahomet  now  frequent  the 
platform  of  the  Haram,  there  were  then  to  be  seen  thousands  of  the  sons  of 
Israel  thronging  to  the  great  Feast  of  the  Passover.  The  temple  then 
gave  solemnity  and  grandeur  to  a  city  not  in  itself  impressive,  as  the 
Mosque  of  Omar  does  now.  Filled  with  the  sentiment  of  sacred  adoration 
and  thankfulness,  the  pilgrims,  after  their  march  from  Jericho,  would 
gently  descend  the  side  of  Olivet  amid  the  gathering  "shades  of  evening. 
Leaving  the  wooded  hillside  with  the  groves  of  olives,  and  myrtle  trees, 
and  pines,  and  palms  and  fig  trees  with  which  this  great  park  of  Jerusalem 
was  then  covered,  they  would  go  down  into  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
Then,  proceeding  a  little  way  northward,  they  would  come  to  an  enclosed 
garden  called  Gethsemane;  and  turning  sharply  to  the  left,  they  would 
cross  the  Kedron  which  then  flowed  with  water,  and  which,  since  the 
planting  of  trees  upon  the  bare  hills  around,  has  again  begun  to  flow.  At 
length  they  would  ascend  the  steep  side  of  Mount  Moriah,  and  passing 
where  the  gate  called  Bab  Sitti  Mariam ,  or  the  gate  of  our  Lady  Mary, 
also  called  St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  now  is,  they  would  enter  the  Holy  City. 
As  they  entered,  they  would  have  on  their  left  hand  the  Pool  of  Bethesda. 
The  narrow  and  winding  street  they  would  first  thread  is  now  called  the 
Via  Dolorosa,  the  Street  of  Woe — the  first  street  of  Jerusalem — and  per¬ 
haps  the  last— that  the  feet  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever  trod. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM— PHYSICAL  AND  HISTORICAL. 

Object  of  the  Chapter— Derivation  of  the  Name  of  Jerusalem— Early  History — Taken  by  David  from 
the  Jebusites — Geographical  Position  and  Political  Advantages — Kedron  Valley — Hinnom  Val¬ 
ley — The  Tyropeon  Valley — Divisions  of  the  Ancient  City — Citadel  of  Zion — Acra — Millo  and 
Silla  Moriah — Ophel — Bezetha — Structure  of  the  Tabernacle— Its  History — Solomon’s  Temple — 
Temple  of  Zerubbabel — Temple  of  Herod — History  of  Jerusalem — Siege  of  Titus — Destruction  of 
the  City — Aelia  Capitolina — Restoration  under  Constantine — Invention  of  the  Cross  by  Helena — 
Taken  by  the  Moslems — The  Crusaders — The  Turks. 

THE  object  of  the  present  study  of  Jerusalem  is  not 
to  discuss  antiquarian  questions  nor  any  questions, 
but  in  a  general  and  broad  way  to  gain  such  a  knowledge 
of  the  natural  features  of  the  place,  and  of  the  growth 
and  formation  of  the  city,  as  will  enable  us  satisfacto¬ 
rily  to  imagine  in  our  minds,  the  scene  of  our  Saviour’s 
passion,  as  it  was  when  He  visited  and  suffered  in  it, 
and,  also,  as  it  is  in  our  own  time.  A  well-instructed 
student  of  the  Scriptures  ought  to  have  these  things  so  clearly  impressed 
upon  his  mind,  that  if  he  should  ever  find  himself  at  Jerusalem,  he  would 
be  able,  without  a  guide,  to  go  to  any  noted  historical  place  of  which  the 
situation  is  certainly  known.  It  has  been  proved  by  more  than  one  expe¬ 
rience,  that  so  much  is  possible;  and  although  the  reader  of  this  book  may 
not  accomplish  quite  so  much,  he  may  expect  to  accomplish  the  most  im¬ 
portant  parts  of  it.  As  our  purpose  is  of  this  practical  sort,  we  shall  spend 
no  time  or  space  on  matters  of  mere  conjecture.  In  cases  of  doubt,  the 
more  probable  opinion  of  the  most  recent  and  approved  writers  will  be 
given,  with  a  mere  mention  of  the  fact  that  other  opinions  are  held. 

We  shall  not,  then,  discuss  the  question  of  the  derivation  of  the  name 
of  Jerusalem,  concerning  which,  there  is  no  certainty.  Neither  shall  we  in¬ 
quire  whether  Jerusalem  is  the  ancient  Salem  of  which  Melchizedek  was 
king  (Gen.  xiv:  18),  nor  whether  that  Salem  was  in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel,  as 
St.  Jerome  declares  that  it  was.  Jerusalem  evidently  cannot  be  the  Salem 

to  which  Jacob  came,  since  that  Salem  was  “a  city  of  Shechem.” 

,  287 


288 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


The  place  is  first  mentioned  under  the  name  of  “the  Jebusite,”  with 
the  explanation  that  “the  same  is  Jerusalem”  (Josh.  xv:8).  In  the  book  of 
Judges  it  is  called  “Jebus,  which  is  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  the  Jebusites” 
(Judg.  xix:  io,  11).  It  was  so  strongly  fortified  that,  though  the  Israelites 
.were  successful  in  subduing  the  Canaanites  of  other  mountain  districts,  the 
city  of  the  Jebusites  remained  unconquered  for  centuries  afterward.  Not 
until  the  time  of  David  did  it  fall  permanently  into  the  hands  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites.  It  is  true,  that  we  read  in  Judg.  i :  8,  that  the  Israelites  “fought 
against  it,  and  took  it  and  smote  it  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  set  the 
city  on  fire;”  but  this,  as  Josephus  explains,  refers  only  to  the  lower  city  of 
which  we  shall  hear  presently,  and  not  to  the  upper  city,  which  was  forti¬ 
fied  both  by  nature  and  by  art.  The  city  of  the  Jebusites,  properly  so- 
called,  was  not  taken  at  that  time;  and  when  David  attempted  to  besiege 

it,  the  inhabitants  were  so  confident 
of  their  security,  that  they  showed 
their  scorn  of  the  besieging  force, 
by  manning  their  battlements  with 
the  lame  and  the  blind.  There- 


AfLc/ 


sketch  plan  of  the  site  of  Jerusalem,  upon,  as  Josephus  affirms,  David 
was  greatly  enraged,  and  proclaimed  to  his  army,  that  whoever  should 
first  scale  the  heights  of  the  fortress,  and  kill  a  Jebusite,  should  be  cap¬ 
tain  of  the  host.  The  brave  men  of  the  army  made  a  simultaneous  assault, 
and  Joab  gained  the  promised  reward.  The  city  was  taken,  and  so  be¬ 
came  the  City  of  David,  B.  C.  1046. 

We  may  here  take  a  rapid  glance  at  the  position  of  the  capital  of 
David,  relatively  to  the  land  of  Israel  in  general,  and  the  country  immedi¬ 
ately  surrounding  it. 

Relatively  to  the  rest  of  Palestine,  Jerusalem  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
mountainous  table  land  which  extends  from  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
Plain  of  Esdraelon  southward  to  Hebron,  and  from  the  Ghor  of  the  Jordan 
westward  to  the  lower  hills,  sometimes  called  the  Shephela,  which  form 
the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Maritime  Plain.  Though  Jerusalem  was  not 
the  center  of  the  land,  it  was  considerably  more  central  than  David’s  first 
capital  at  Hebron,  and  it  lay  as  far  north  as  he  could  go,  without  leaving 
the  boundaries  of  his  ancestral  tribe  of  Judah.  In  addition  to  this  advan- 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


289 


tage,  and  the  natural  strength  of  its  position,  Jerusalem  lay  beyond  the 
usual  track  of  the  armies  of  Assyria  and  Egypt,  when  these  two  nations 
were  at  war  with  each  other.  We  have  already  seen  that  when  Pharaoh 
Necho  invaded  Assyria,  by  way  of  the  Plains  of  Philistia  and  Sharon,  he 
was  unable  to  understand  what  objection  could  be  made  to  his  line  of 
march,  by  a  king  who  reigned,  as  Josiah  did,  at  Jerusalem. 

The  natural  features  of  the  place,  if  once  fixed  in  the  memory,  will 
make  other  descriptions  easy  of  comprehension.  Therefore,  those  features 
must  be  clearly  stated. 

We  have  seen  that  along  the  north  of  Jerusalem,  and  at  some  distance 
south  of  Mount  Scopus,  there  runs  a  comparatively  shallow  valley.  At 
the  northeast  angle  of  the  city,  the  valley  turns  to  the  south,  and  runs 
along  the  western  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  close  to  the  east  side  of  the 
city,  rapidly  deepening  as  it  goes  to  the  south.  This  is  the  Kedron  Valley, 
or  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 

Along  the  western  side  of  Jerusalem  runs  another  valley,  of  no  great 
depth,  which  is  often  called  the  Valley  of  Gihon.  At  the  southwest  of  the 
city,  this  valley  turns  sharply  to  the  east,  in  front  of  the  Hill  of  Evil  Coun¬ 
sel,  deepening  as  it  goes  eastward  to  join  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  in  the 
deep  gorge  which  divides  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel  from  the  Mount  of 
Offence.  This  valley,  or  rather  ravine,  is  the  Valley  of  Hinnom. 

By  the  Valleys  of  Gihon,  Hinnom  and  the  Kedron,  Jerusalem  is  en¬ 
closed  for  three-fourths  of  its  circumference. 

There  is  a  third,  and  lesser,  but  notable  ravine,  which  runs  from  the 
junction  of  the  Valleys  of  Jehoshaphat  and  Hinnom,  in  a  direction  slightly 
west  of  north,  so  as  to  separate  the  southern  part  of  the  site  of  Jerusalem 
into  two  hills.  This  third  ravine  is  called  the  Tyropeon  Valley,  or  the 
Valley  of  the  Cheesemakers.  The  hill  lying  on  the  west  of  it  is  Mount 
Zion,  the  original  city  of  the  Jebusites,  and  later  the  city  of  David;  the 
other  is  Mount  Moriah,  and  is  believed  to  be  the  spot  on  which  Abraham 
prepared  to  offer  his  son  Isaac  as  a  sacrifice  (Gen.  xxii:2). 

It  is  important  to  observe  the  suddenness  of  the  descent  of  the  two 
principal  ravines.  From  their  several  start-points,  to  their  junction  on  the 
southeast  of  the  city,  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  only,  there 
is  a  fall  of  more  than  six  hundred  feet.  Thus,  to  quote  from  a  graphic 


290 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


description,  “while  on  the  north  there  is  no  material  difference  between  the 
general  level  of  the  country,  outside  the  walls,  and  that  of  the  higher  parts 
of  the  city,  on  the  other  three  sides,  so  steep  is  the  fall  of  the  ravines,  so 
trench-like  their  character,  and  so  close  do  they  keep  to  the  promontory, 
at  whose  feet  they  run,  as  to  leave  on  the  beholder  almost  the  impression 
of  the  ditch  at  the  foot  of  a  fortress,  rather  than  of  valleys  formed  by 
nature.”  Between  the  two  spurs  which  are  separated  by  the  Tyropeon 
Valley,  the  depression  is  not  so  great,  though  it  is  quite  certain  that  by  the 
accumulation  of  rubbish  and  ruins,  this  valley,  or  ravine,  is  now  much  shal¬ 
lower  than  it  was  in  ancient  times. 

Two  other  depressions,  which  may,  perhaps,  originally  have  been  deep 
enough  to  be  called  ravines,  remain  to  be  mentioned.  About  midway  of 
the  western  hill,  the  Tyropeon  Valley  throws  out  a  subordinate  valley 
westward,  thus  separating  it  into  two  hills;  and  another  similar  subordinate 
valley  runs,  or  certainly  did  formerly  run,  east  and  west,  on  the  northern 
part  of  the  eastern  hill. 

Observing  these  natural  divisions,  we  are  now  prepared  to  distinguish 
the  southern  part  of  the  western  hill  as  the  Citadel  of  Zion,  also  called  the 
Upper  City,  and  the  northern  part  as  the  Acra,  or  the  Lower  City.  The 
central  part  of  the  eastern  is  Mount  Moriah,  the  site  of  the  Temple;  the 
hill  on  the  north  of  it  is  Bezetha;  and  the  southern  end  of  Mount  Moriah 
is  called  Ophel.  Of  all  these  hills,  the  Citadel  of  Zion  is  considerably  the 
highest.  Its  greatest  elevation  is  2,535  feet  above  sea  level;  the  highest 
point  of  Acra,  is  2,482;  of  Bezetha,  2,487;  of  the  Temple  area,  2,432;  and 
of  Ophel,  2,350;  so  that  the  general  appearance  of  the  surface  is  that  of  a 
slope  downward,  from  the  southwest  hill  to  Bezetha  and  Mount  Moriah  on 
the  north  and  east,  with  a  steeper  slope  to  Ophel  on  the  southeast.  From 
the  summit  of  Zion  to  the  Pool  of  Siloam  at  the  feet  of  Ophel,  the  fall  is 
410  feet. 

To  speak  of  these  divisions  of  Jerusalem  in  a  little  more  detail,  we 
may  say  of  Mount  Zion ,  that  it  is  undoubtedly  the  original  city  of  the 
Jebusites,  which  became  the  city  of  David,  and  afterward  the  Upper  City, 
or  the  upper  market  of  Josephus.  Here  David  built  his  palace,  and  here, 
for  a  thousand  years,  not  only  the  kings  of  Judah,  but  the  foreign  rul¬ 
ers,  who  held  possession  of  Jerusalem,  resided.  Here,  too,  was  the  sepul- 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


291 


cher  of  David  and  of  fourteen  of  his  successors.  As  Zion  was  the  first,  so 
it  was  the  last  part  of  Jerusalem,  which  owned  the  rule  of  Israel.  After  all 
the  rest  had  fallen  before  the  battering  rams  of  Titus — after  even  the  for¬ 
tress  of  the  Temple  had  been  stormed — the  last  remnant  of  the  Jews,  cross¬ 
ing  the  bridges  which  then  led  from  the  Temple  over  the  Tyropeon  Valley 
to  the  Upper  City,  there  renewed  the  conflict  in  the  ancient  keep  of  their 


THE  OFFERING  OF  ISAAC.  (GEN.  XII :  10-12). 

kings,  and  perished  under  the  last  banner  of  Israel  that  was  ever  raised  in 
Jerusalem. 


Though  we  are  able  to  tell  with  entire  satisfaction,  which  of  the  divi¬ 
sions  of  Jerusalem  is  Mount  Zion,  it  is  less  easy  to  ascertain  its  original 
boundaries,  that  is  to  say,  the  lines  of  its  defensive  works.  Even  that,  how¬ 
ever,  may  be  done  approximately.  The  City  of  David  included  the  whole 
of  Mount  Zion,  and  therefore  a  large  part  of  the  hill  which  lies  without  the 


pr 

292  ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 

modern  wall  on  the  south.  On  the  east  of  the  Tyropeon  Valley,  which  has 
been  filled  up  by  the  ruins  of  many  devastations  to  a  depth  of  120  feet  be¬ 
tween  Zion  and  Moriah,  must  then  have  lain  between  two  inaccessible 
steeps,  and  the  frowning  precipice  on  its  western  side,  was  the  eastern 
boundary  of  David’s  city.  On  the  north,  the  lesser  valley  thrown  out  west¬ 
ward  from  the  Tyropeon  was  of  considerable  depth,  and,  although  it  has 
now  become  entirely  filled  up,  it  was  then  the  northern  boundary  of  Zion. 
Where  that  valley  once  ran,  is  now  the  Muristan,  a  wide,  vacant  space 
within  the  city,  beginning  not  more  than  300  paces  from  the  Jaffa  Gate. 
In  the  Middle  ages  it  was  the  site  of  the  Hospice  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John,  and  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Mary.  It  is  now  merely  an  arable  field, 
but  some  travelers  stoutly  maintain,  while  others  as  stoutly  deny,  that  the 
beginning  of  the  western  branch  of  the  Tyropeon  can  be  distinctly  seen  at 
the  Jaffa  Gate,  where  the  old  tower  of  Herod,  the  lower  courses  of  which, 
are  undoubtedly  of  the  date  of  Solomon,  is  founded  on  a  scarped  rock, 
which  rises  forty  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  and  marks  the  north¬ 
western  boundary  of  the  City  of  David. 

Having  thus  ascertained  the  limits  of  the  City  of  David,  we  can  have 
no  doubt  of  the  general  position  of  Akra,  or  the  Lower  City.  It  lay  to  the 
north  of  the  branch  of  the  Tyropeon,  by  which  it  was  separated  from  the 
Upper  City  of  David.  On  its  eastern  side,  Josephus  says,  it  was  in  like 
manner  separated  from  the  Temple  Mount  by  a  broad  valley ;  but,  in  order 
to  connect  the  city  with  the  Temple,  the  Asmonean  princes  leveled  the 
summit  of  Akra,  and  filled  up  the  intervening  valley.  The  Akra,  then, 
must  have  included  the  greater  part  of  the  Christian  Quarter,  lying  north 
of  the  Jaffa  Gate,  and,  therefore,  must  almost  certainly  have  included  the 
site  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  This  is  the  reason  why  it  seems 
to  be  impossible  to  accept  the  traditional  scenes  of  the  death,  burial  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  as  satisfactory,  since  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  they 
lay  without  the  wall  of  Jerusalem. 

Two  names  frequently  occur  in  connection  with  ancient  Jerusalem — 
Millo  and  Silla.  The  former  is  mentioned  when  David  took  the  city  from 
the  Jebusites  (2  Sam.  v:9),  and  it  was  one  of  the  great  works  of  Solomon 
(1  Kings  ix:  15).  Hezekiah,  too,  “repaired  Millo  in  the  City  of  David” 
{2  Chron.  xxxii:  5);  and  in  Millo  King  Joash  was  murdered  (2  Kings 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


293 


xii:  20).  Yet  we  do  not  know  what  Millo  was.  The  most  satisfactory 
explanation,  in  Dr.  Tristram’s  opinion,  is  that  it  was  the  ancient  fortress  or 
keep  of  Mount  Zion,  and  that  the  name  is  a  survival  of  Canaanitish  times. 
Of  Silla,  which  is  named  once  in  connection  with  Millo  (2  Kings  xii:  20),. 
nothing  whatever  is  known. 

Several  viaducts  or  bridges  spanned  the  Tyropeon  from  Zion  to; 
Mount  Moriah.  Remains  of  two  of  these,  known  respectively  as  Robin¬ 
son’s  Arch  and  Wilson’s  Arch,  have  been  discovered  toward  the  south  of 
the  present  Haram  enclosure.  But  the  present  enclosure  itself  has  no 
such  appearance  as  it  had  before  the  time  of  Solomon.  Then  it  was  a 
distinct  and  separate  hill,  with  the  deep  ravine  of  the  Tyropeon  dividing 
it  from  Mount  Zion. 


Nowit  is  rather  the  cen¬ 
ter  and  highest  portion 
of  the  eastern  ridge. 

Then,  too,  it  had  a 
mound  of  rock  rising  in 
the  center  of  the  ridge, 
with  a  narrow  platform 
on  its  crest.  This  was 
the  old  threshing-floor 
of  Araunah,  the  Jebu- 
site,  which  David  pur¬ 
chased  of  him  for  an 
altar  place  when  the 
pestilence  provoked  by 
his  sin  had  been  stayed 
(2  Sam.  xxiv:  10-25). 

It  was  around  this  cen¬ 
tral  rock  that  Solomon  plan  of  the  temple  area. 

afterward  raised  a  vast  platform,  supported  by  massive  piers  and  arches,  tier 
above  tier,  and  also  by  walls  of  stupendous  masonry,  for  the  great  courts 
of  his  magnificent  Temple.  The  interstices  were  filled  in  with  stones  and 
earth  so  that  the  whole  platform  was  made  solid;  and  the  substructure 
was  utilized  for  tanks  and  reservoirs  and  drains.  The  central  rock  is  now 


294 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


called  the  Sakhra,  and  the  immense  platform  wall  of  the  Haram  Area,  as 
it  is  now  called,  enables  us  to  identify  the  general  positions  of  the  sacred 
buildings  of  Solomon,  and  the  extent  of  Moriah  on  its  northern  side.  It 
was  separated  from  Bezetha  by  a  valley  now  filled  up;  at  the  eastern  end 
of  this  valley,  and  therefore  at  the  northeast  of  Moriah,  was  the  deep 
reservoir  called  the  Pool  of  Bethesda;  and  at  the  northwest  angle  was  the 
Tower  of  Antonia,  the  military  key  to  the  Temple-fortress. 

Mount  Moriah  is  almost  beyond  question  the  scene  of  Abraham’s 
offering  of  Isaac,  his  son;  but  the  immediate  cause  of  the  selection  of  that 
spot  for  the  site  of  the  Temple  was  its  consecration  to  the  purposes  of 
sacrifice  after  the  staying  of  the  pestilence  in  the  time  of  David  (i  Chron. 
xxi:  14-27)0  That  the  summit  of  the  Mount  was  then  occupied  as  a  thresh¬ 
ing-floor  proves  that  it  had  not  yet  been  included  within  the  city. 

The  name  of  Ophcl  was  applied  to  the  low  shoulder  projecting  from 
Mount  Moriah  toward  the  south.  It  extends  to  the  Pool  of  Siloam  at 
the  junction  of  the  Tyropeon  and  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  ter¬ 
minates  in  a  cliff  which  forms  the  apex  of  a  long  triangle  and  overhangs 
the  pool.  The  whole  of  it  now  lies  without  the  city  walls,  just  south  of  the 
ITaram  enclosure,  and  is  terraced  for  gardens,  as  the  descent  southward  is 
very  steep.  In  the  time  of  Solomon,  however,  or  soon  afterward,  Ophel 
must  have  been  enclosed  within  the  city,  as  we  read  that  King  Jotham 
“on  the  wall  of  Ophel  built  much”  (2  Chron.  xxvii:  3),  and  between  the 
time  of  Solomon  and  Jotham  it  is  not  likely  that  there  could  have  been 
any  great  extension  of  the  city.  Afterward  Manasseh  enlarged  the  city 
and  “compassed  about  Ophel,  and  raised  it  to  a  very  great  height” 
(2  Chron.  xxxiii:  14).  Nehemiah  also  included  it  in  the  city  as  it  was 
rebuilt  after  the  captivity,  and  assigned  it  as  the  residence  of  the  Nethi- 
nims,  or  servants  of  the  Temple  (Neh.  iii :  2 7).  The  eastern  wall  of  Ophel 
has  actually  been  discovered  at  a  depth  of  seventy  feet  beneath  the  pres¬ 
ent  surface,  so  vast  has  been  the  accumulation  of  rubbish  in  the  many 
successive  destructions  of  the  sacred  city.  The  ancient  wall  of  Ophel  is 
thus  ascertained  to  have  been  a  continuation,  but  at  an  oblique  angle,  of  the 
eastern  wall  of  the  Temple  platform.  Sir  C.  Warren,  who  discovered  this 
wall,  suggests  that  Ophel  may  have  been  the  site  of  King  Solomon’s 
palace;  but  we  need  not  enter  into  such  matters  of  antiquarian  research. 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


295 


The  latest  addition  to  Jerusalem,  that  of  Bezetha ,  is  not  mentioned  in 
Holy  Scripture  at  all,  but  it  is  precisely  described  by  Josephus,  who  says 
that  as  the  population  increased,  the  inhabitants  gradually  crept  beyond 
the  walls,  and  the  quarter  north  of  the  Temple  was  so  advanced  that  it  be¬ 
came  necessary  to  take  in  the  fourth  hill  of  Bezetha,  that  is,  Nezu  Town.  It 
is  separated  from  the  fortress  of  Antonia,  which  stood  at  the  northwest  angle 
of  the  Temple  platform,  "by  a  deep  trench  excavated  in  the  solid  rock,  so 
as  to  strengthen  Anto¬ 
nia  and  render  it  less 
accessible.  According 
to  Josephus,  Bezetha 
was  the  highest  of  all 
the  hills,  and  alone 
overshadowed  the 
Temple  on  the  north,  x 

T  •  •  ,  W 

its  position  cannot,  01  H 

> 

course,  be  mistaken.  “ 

•  ^ 

It  is  a  broad  irregular  jg 

ridge  forming  part  of  £ 
the  Mohammedan 
quarter  of  modern  Je¬ 
rusalem.  It  is  separ¬ 
ated  from  Moriah  by 
the  fosse  and  the  great 
pool  of  Bethesda.  It  is 
important  to  remember 
that  though  Bezetha  was  thickly  inhabited,  it  was  not  surrounded  by  a  wall 
until  eight  years  after  the  crucifixion  of  our  Savior,  when  Herod  Agrippa 
fortified  it  and  included  it  within  the  walls  of  the  city.  If  it  had  been  a 
part  of  the  more  ancient  city,  the  traditionary  site  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher 
would  have  been  absolutely  impossible,  as  that  site  lay  far  within  the 
third  wall. 

1  he  importance  of  Jerusalem  to  Israel  and  the  world  is  due  less  to 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  seat  of  Israelitish  royalty  than  to  the  fact  that  it  be 
came  the  seat  of  the  chosen  Temple  of  God.  Some  description  of  the 


296  ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 

Temple,  and  of  the  Tabernacle  which  preceded  it,  will  therefore  be  in  or¬ 
der  here. 

The  Temple  was  intended  to  replace  the  Tabernacle  which  Moses  had 
used  in  the  wilderness;  and  with  all  its  magnificence,  its  structure  and 
measurements  were  a  close  copy  of  the  light  and  fragile  tent  which  was 
first  devoted  to  the  most  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Mosaic  religion.  The 
Tabernacle  was  erected  by  Moses  in  the  Desert  of*Sinai  immediately  after 
the  promulgation  of  the  law.  It  stood  within  an  enclosure  of  curtains  forming 
a  double  square,  fifty  cubits,  or  seventy-five  feet,  in  width,  by  one  hundred 
cubits,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  in  length.  The  curtains  were  five 
cubits,  or  seven  and  a  half  feet  high,  and  were  supported  by  pillars  of  brass 
at  intervals  of  five  cubits,  to  which  they  were  attached  by  hooks  of  silver. 
On  the  eastern  end  of  the  enclosure  was  an  entrance  twenty  cubits  wide, 
which  was  closed  by  curtains  of  fine  linen  wrought  with  needle  work  and 
of  gorgeous  colors. 

Within  this  area  and  toward  the  west  of  it  stood  the  Tabernacle.  It 
was  a  tent  thirty  cubits  long  by  ten  wide,  according  to  the  account  of 
Josephus,  which  corresponds  with  the  account  of  the  Bible  (Exod.  xxvi :  15- 
26),  if  we  allow  for  the  width  of  the  corner  posts. 

The  Holy  of  Holies  was  a  cubical  chamber  at  the  end  of  the  Tabernacle, 
ten  cubits  square  and  ten  cubits  high.  It  contained  the  Mercy  Seat,  sur¬ 
mounted  by  the  Cherubim,  and  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  in  which  were  the 
Tables  of  the  Law.  Into  these  chambers  not  even  the  priest  was  allowed 
to  enter  except  on  extraordinary  occasions. 

In  front  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  was  an  outer  chamber,  called  the  Holy 
Place.  It  was  ten  cubits  long  by  ten  cubits  wide  and  ten  cubits  high,  and 
was  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  priests.  In  this  outer  chamber  were 
placed  the  Golden  Candlestick  on  one  side,  on  the  other  the  table  of  Shew 
Bread,  and  between  them  the  Altar  of  Incense. 

The  roof  of  the  Tabernacle  was  formed  of  several  sets  of  curtains, 
for  the  construction  of  which  exceedingly  minute  directions  were  given  by 
Moses  (Exod,  xxvi). 

From  Sinai  to  the  Holy  Land  this  Tabernacle  was  removed  by  the 
Israelites  as  they  marched  from  place  to  place,  and  while  the  Canaanites 
remained  unconquered,  it  continued  to  be  removed  as  occasion  required 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


297 

Finally,  it  rested  at  Shiloh,  “the  place  which  God  had  chosen”  (Josh, 
ix:  27;  xviii:  1),  and  there  it  remained  during  the  whole  of  the  period  of 
the  Judges.  It  was  the  gathering  point  for  the  heads  of  the  fathers  of  the 
tribes  (Josh,  xix:  51),  for  councils  of  peace  and  war  (Josh,  xxii:  12;  Judg. 
xxi:  12);  and  for  annual  solemn  dances  in  which  the  women  of  Shiloh  were 
conspicuous  (Judg.  xxi:  21).  There  the  religion  of  Israel  fell  into  gradual 


THE  CARRYING  AWAY  INTO  CAPTIVITY.  (2  CHRON.  XXXVII  IQ-20). 

degradation  and  the  conduct  of  the  priests  was  sometimes  shamelessly 
profligate.  “The  high  places,”  too,  had  a  strange  attraction  for  the 
people,  and  altars  were  set  up  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  Still  the 
Tabernacle  held  its  repute  as  the  House  of  God  and  the  Temple  of  God 
in  distinction  from  all  lesser  sanctuaries  (i  Sam.  i:  9,  24;  iii:  3,  15).  It 
was  perhaps  not  a  misfortune  that,  when  the  worship  of  Jehovah  was 
degenerating  into  a  condition  little  better  than  the  idolatrous  worship  cl 


298 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


the  heathen,  the  Ark  of  God  was  taken  in  battle  by  the  Philistines.  It 
was  eventually  recovered,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  former  chapter,  but  it  was 
not  restored  to  the  Tabernacle.  For  a  time  it  was  settled,  under  King 
Saul,  at  Nob,  a  city  whose  site  has  not  been  ascertained,  but  which  has 
been  plausibly  supposed  to  be  the  northernmost  crest  of  the  ridge  of 
Olivet,  north  of  the  Viri  Galilaei,  and  east  of  Scopus.  In  some  way  the 
Tabernacle  came  to  be  set  up  at  Gibeon  (1  Chron.  xvi:  39;  1  Kings  iii:  4), 
and  when  Jerusalem  was  captured  and  a  new  Tabernacle  was  erected  there, 
containing  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  (2  Sam.  vi:  17),  the  ancient  Taber¬ 
nacle  still  continued  to  be  the  place  of  sacrifice,  while  the  new  was  a  place 
of  worship  in  songs  and  psalms  under  the  direction  of  Asaph  (1  Chron. 
xvi:  4,  37,  39;  xxi:  29).  This  divided  worship  continued  throughout  the 
reign  of  David,  and  the  sanctity  of  both  places  was  acknowledged  by 
Solomon  at  his  accession  (1  Kings  iii:  15;  2  Chron.  i:  3). 

It  was  the  great  glory  of  the  reign  of  Solomon  that  he  was  permitted 
to  unite  the  sanctity  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  two  tabernacles  in  the 
Temple  of  Jerusalem.  On  the  summit  of  Mount  Moriah  a  platform  was 
cleared,  and  within  an  area  corresponding  with  the  outer  court  of  the 
Tabernacle,  a  building  was  erected,  of  proportions  closely  resembling  those 
of  the  Tabernacle,  though  the  dimensions  were  much  greater.  The  ground 
plan  of  the  Temple  measured  eighty  cubits  by  forty,  and  the  height  was 
thirty  cubits,  not  a  large  building  certainly,  nor  very  imposing,  if  this  were 
all  that  is  known  about  it.  But  we  are  told  (2  Chron.  iii:  4)  that  the  height 
perhaps  only  of  the  porch,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  cubits,  or  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet,  which  is  an  enormous  height  for  any  building, 
and  yet  such  a  porch  would  be  out  of  all  proportion  to  a  building  of  only 
forty-five  feet  high.  But  we  are  further  told  (2  Chron.  iii:  9)  that  Solomon 
overlaid  the  upper  chambers  with  gold,  and  elsewhere  we  read  (2  Kings 
xxiii:  12)  of  altars  on  the  top  of  the  zipper  chambers.  It  is  evident,  then, 
that  above  the  lower  temple  there  must  have  been  a  superstructure,  and 
both  Josephus  and  the  Talmud  make  the  same  assertion,  adding  that  the 
superstructure  was  of  equal  height  with  the  lower  building.  Thus  the 
height  of  the  Temple  as  seen  from  without  would  be,  not  thirty,  but  sixty 
cubits,  or  ninety  feet.  Such  an  edifice  with  its  facade  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  would  be  a  noble  and  impressive  piece  of  architecture.  We 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


299 


need  not  further  detail  its  special  features,  since  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
was  burned  down  by  the  army  of  Nebuchadnezzar  at  the  time  of  the 
captivity  (2  Chron.  xxxvi:  19). 

The  Temple  of  Zerubbabel,  built  after  the  captivity,  was  probably  of 
the  same  length  as  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and  it  was  of  the  same  height 
of  sixty  cubits,  but  it  was  wider  by  twenty  cubits,  having  a  width  of  sixty 
cubits  (Ezra  vi:  3).  This  Temple  stood  until  the  time  of  Herod,  and  was 
by  him  repaired  and  adorned,  rather  than  rebuilt. 

Of  the  Temple  of  Herod,  as  it  was  properly  called,  we  can  learn 
nothing  from  the  New  Testament,  but  the  Talmud  and  the  writings  of 
Josephus  furnish  us  with  all  the  information  we  require.  Herod  greatly 
enlarged  the  area  within  which  the  temple 
stood,  so  as  to  make  it  a  great  square  of 
six  hundred  feet  on  each  side.  The  Tem¬ 
ple  area  thus  became  the  principal  defence 
of  the  city  on  the  east.  On  that  side  there 
were  no  gates  or  openings,  and  being  situ¬ 
ated  on  a  sort  of  rocky  brow,  it  was  at  all 
subsequent  times  considered  impregnable 
from  the  eastward.  The  north  side,  too, 
where  not  covered  by  the  fortress  Antonia, 
became  partof  the  defenses  of  the  city,  and 
was  likewise  without  gates.  On  the  south 
side,  which  was  enclosed  by  the  wall  of 
Ophel,  there  were  double  gates  nearly 
in  the  center.  On  the  west  there  were 
four  gateways.  In  the  time  of  Solomon, 
and  until  the  area  was  enlarged  by  Herod,  the  ascent  to  the  temple 
from  the  western  valley  seems  to  have  been  by  an  external  flight  of 
stairs  (Neh.  xii:  37;  1  Kings  x:  5);  but  when  the  temple  came  to  be 
fortified,  a  bridge  and  causeway  were  built  over  the  Tyropeon  Valley  to 
connect  the  Temple  area  with  the  upper  city  of  Zion. 

'The  Temple  of  Herod  was  similar,  if  not  identical,  in  arrangement  and 
dimensions,  to  that  of  Zerubbabel,  but  he  surrounded  the  Temple  Area 
with  cloisters  or  porches  which,  from  an  architectural  point  of  view,  were 


300 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


most  magnificent.  Before  his  time,  it  is  probable  that  there  was  a  porch, 
called  Solomon’s  porch,  on  the  eastern  side;  but  on  the  other  three  sides, 
Herod’s  addition  was  exclusively  his  own.  On  the  west,  north  and  east 
sides,  the  cloisters  were  composed  of  double  rows  of  Corinthian  pillars,  25 
cubits,  or  37  feet  in  height,  with  flat  roofs  resting  against  the  outer  walls 
of  the  Temple  Area.  These,  however,  were  incomparably  inferior  to  the 
royal  porch  which  overhung  the  southern  wall.  Outwardly,  that  is  to  say, 
on  the  southern  side,  this  magnificent  portico  was  closed  by  the  wall;  in¬ 
wardly,  on  the  side  nearest  the  Temple,  it  was  open.  From  east  to  west 
it  extended  600  feet,  in  three  broad  aisles,  divided  by  rows  of  lofty  col¬ 
umns,  the  middle  aisle  being  45  feet  wide,  and  the  other  two  aisles  being 
30  feet  wide.  To  the  porches  surrounding  the  Temple  Area,  gentiles  were 
admitted,  but  at  a  little  distance  within,  was  a  marble  fence  or  screen,  four 
or  five  feet  high,  beautifully  ornamented  with  carving,  and  bearing  inscrip¬ 
tions  in  Greek  and  Latin,  which  forbade  any  gentile  to  pass  within  its 
boundaries. 

A  short  distance  within  this  screen,  was  a  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to 
a  platform  or  terrace,  fifteen  cubits  above  the  level  of  the  floor  of  the 
southern  cloister.  Still  a  little  further  within,  a  flight  of  five  or  six  steps 
led  up  to  the  sacred  inclosure  of  the  Temple  itself,  which  was  called  Chel; 
and  the  eastern  part  of  this  inner  inclosure,  was  the  Court  of  the  Women, 
the  dimensions  of  which  are  variously  estimated. 

The  glory  of  the  inner  courts  of  the  Temple,  was  their  gateways,  and 
especially  the  eastern  gate  of  the  Court  of  the  Women.  It  was  strongly 
fortified,  and  richly  ornamented  with  carving  and  gilding,  and  had  apart¬ 
ments  over  it,  so  as  to  resemble  the  Gopura  of  an  Indian  temple,  more 
than  any  other  other  architectural  structure.  This  was  in  all  probability 
“The  Beautiful  Gate”  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  (Acts  iii:  2). 

On  the  west  of  the  Women’s  Court,  and  on  a  still  higher  level,  was  the 
Court  of  Israel,  and  within  that  again  was  the  Court  of  the  Priests,  sur¬ 
rounded  with  a  portico,  and  having  the  Great  Altar  standing  in  the  midst 
in  front  of  the  Temple.  Within  this  last  inclosure,  west  of  the  Great  Altar 
of  Burnt  Offering,  and  on  a  level  yet  loftier,  stood  the  Temple  itself,  of  the 
same  dimensions  as  that  of  Zerubbabel,  but  far  more  elaborately  orna¬ 
mented.  It  was  fronted  on  the  east  by  a  magnificent  facade,  behind 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


301 


which  was  the  Holy  Place,  and  at  the  extreme  west  was  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  It  seems  to  be  idle  to  attempt  to  ascertain  with  any  exactness  the 
details  of  this  wonderful  structure;  but,  whatever  they  may  have  been,  “it 
may  safely  be  asserted,  that  the  triple  Temple  of  Jerusalem — the  Lower 
Court,  standing  on  its  magnificent  terraces — the  Inner  Court,  standing 
in  the  center  of  this — and  the  Temple  itself  rising  out  of  this  group  and 


THE  RETURN  FROM  CAPTIVITY.  (EZRA  111:64,65.) 

crowning  the  whole — must  have  formed,  when  combined  with  the  beauty  of 
its  situation,  one  of  the  most  splendid  architectural  combinations  of  the 
ancient  world.” 

To  resume  the  history  of  Jerusalem: — 

Under  Rehoboam,  the  hot-headed  son  of  Solomon,  not  only  was  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  separated  from  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  by  a  schism  which 
was  never  healed,  but  Jerusalem  itself  was  speedily  desolated  by  the  hand 


302 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


of  a  foreign  invader.  In  the  year  973  B.  C.  Shishak,  King  of  Egypt 
“came  up  against  Jerusalem  and  took  away  the  treasures  of  the  Lord’s 
House,  and  the  treasures  of  the  King’s  House;  he  took  all”  (2  Chron. 
xii :  9>* 

In  the  reign  of  Amaziah,  who  rashly  challenged  Jehoash,  King  of  Is¬ 
rael  to  battle,  a  great  defeat  of  the  southern  kingdom  was  followed  by  the 
surrender  of  Jerusalem  to  the  victorious  Jehoash.  The  southern  wall,  to 
the  extent  of  six  hundred  feet,  was  dismantled,  in  order  to  keep  the  city 
at  the  mercy  of  its  powerful  neighbor,  and  so  Jehoash  returned  to  Samaria 
with  the  plunder  of  Temple  and  palace,  and  with  hostages  from  Amaziah 
(2  Kings  xiv:8-i5).  In  the  reign  of  Uzziah,  the  fortifications  of  the  city 
had  been  restored,  and  were  strengthened  by  towers  (2  Chron.  xxvi:9); 
Jotham  “built  much,”  as  we  have  already  seen,  on  the  wall  of  Ophel 
(2  Chron.  xxvii:3);  Hezekiah  improved  the  water-supply  by  aqueducts 
from  the  upper  pool  of  Gihon  (2  Chron.  xxxii:  30);  Manasseh  immensely 
increased  the  circuit  of  the  walls.  By  these  successive  improvements,  Je¬ 
rusalem  was  enabled  to  hold  out  against  Nebuchadnezzar  during  a  siege 
of  eighteen  months,  at  the  end  of  which,  it  was  captured  and  sacked. 
Most  of  the  inhabitants  were  put  to  the  sword  without  distinction  of  age  or 
sex,  and  those  who  escaped  from  slaughter  were  carried  captives  to  Baby¬ 
lon.  The  Temple  was  plundered  and  burnt,  and  the  wall  of  the  city  was 
broken  down  (2  Kings  xxv;  2  Chron.  xxxvi;  Jer.  xxxix). 

The  restoration  of  the  Temple,  by  the  original  command  of  Cyrus 
the  Great,  is  the  subject  of  the  first  part  of  the  Book  of  Ezra.  It  was  be 
gun  in  536  B.  C.,  but  was  almost  immediately  suspended  by  order  of  Ar- 
taxerxes  on  account  of  the  alleged  rebellious  character  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem.  At  length,  by  a  new  decree  of  Darius,  the  work  was  resumed, 
and  in  the  year  519  B.  C.,  it  was  completed,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
Jews  (Ezra  i :  7). 

The  first  six  chapters  of  Nehemiah  give  an  account  of  the  rebuilding 
of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  in  troublous  times,  and  of  its  completion, 
B.  C.  445.  Thenceforward  the  Jews  were  loyal  subjects  of  the  Persian 
monarchs,  and  an  apocryphal  story  is  told  to  the  effect  that  when  Alexan¬ 
der  the  Great  was  advancing  against  the  Persians,  he  went  to  Jerusalem 
with  the  intention  of  capturing  it.  On  his  approach,  however,  Jaddua, 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


303 


who  was  High  Priest  at  that  time,  went  forth  to  meet  the  Macedonian, 
clad  in  the  vestments  of  his  office,  and  attended  by  a  train  of  priests  and 
Levites.  In  Jaddua,  the  story  runs,  Alexander  recognized  a  figure  which 
had  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  bidding  him  go  forth  and  conquer;  there¬ 
fore  he  at  once  saluted  the  High  Priest,  and  left  the  city  in  peace. 

At  the  distribution  of  Alexander’s  empire,  among  his  generals,  Judah 
was  claimed  by  Ptolemy,  who  marched  upon  Jerusalem,  and  surprising  the 
garrison  by  an  attack  on  the  Sabbath  day,  captured  the  city,  B.  C.,  320. 
As  usual,  the  Temple  and  the  city  were  plundered,  and  Ptolemy  carried 
many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  to  his  capital  of  Alexandria,  where  he 
granted  them 
many  privileges; 
and  gave  them  a 
rank  second  only 
to  that  of  his  own 
Macedonians.  In 
his  subsequent 
wars  with  Syria, 

Jerusalem  was  sin¬ 
gularly  spared,  and 
in  .302,  B.  C.,  its 
possession  was 
confirmed  to 
Egypt. 

Suo  it  remained 
in  peaceful  sub¬ 
jection  to  the  Gre¬ 
cian  kingdom  of  the  Ptolemies  for  100  years,  and  when  wars  broke  out 
between  Syria  and  Egypt,  Jerusalem,  for  a  time,  escaped  the  horrors  of 
war.  In  21 1,  B.  C.,  however,  Ptolemy  Philopator  was  guilty  of  a  sacrilege 
which  he  had  cause  to  repent.  He  entered  the  sanctuary  of  the  Temple, 
but  there  encountered  a  vision,  before  which  he  fled  in  terror.  To  his 
resentment  of  the  fright  which  he  then  experienced,  is  attributed  his 
subsequent  barbarous  treatment  of  the  Jewish  inhabitants  of  Alexandria. 

At  length,  the  tide  of  war  turned  so  that  Jerusalem  submitted  to  Anti- 


FAC-SIM ILE  OF  GREEK  INSCRIPTION  ON  ONE  OF  THE  OBELISKS 


EXISTING  IN  THE  TIME  OF  OUR  LORD,  DISCOVERED  BY  M. 
GANNEAU. 

Translation:  “No  alien  to  pass  within  the  balustrade  around  the 
Temple  and  the  inclosure.  Whoever  shall  be  caught  (so  doing)  must 
blame  himself  for  the  death  that  will  follow.” 


304 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


ochus,  and  for  some  time  the  city  was  treated  with  clemency  and  kindness 
by  its  Syrian  ruler.  On  his  accession  to  the  throne,  Seleucus  was  dis¬ 
posed  to  take  a  harsher  course.  He  sent  his  treasurer  to  carry  off  the 
sacred  vessels  and  treasures  of  the  Temple;  but,  like  Philapator,  the  un¬ 
happy  treasurer  encountered  a  vision  in  the  Temple,  before  which  he,  too, 
fled,  leaving  his  commission  unperformed.  Under  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
a  serious  attempt  was  made  to  turn  the  Jews  from  their  ancient  religion  to 
another  which  should  be  more  in  accordance  with  Gentile  customs.  Mene- 
laus,  a  semi-pagan  priest,  was  appointed  High  Priest,  and  the  work  of  re¬ 
formation  was  begun,  with  every  prospect  of  success;  but  a  report  of  the 
king’s  death  reaching  Jerusalem,  in  the  year  169,  the  people  rose  in  a  mass 
and  drove  Menelaus  out  of  the  city.  This  insurrection  was  severely  pun¬ 
ished.  Two  years  later,  Jerusalem  was  plundered  and  dismantled,  the 
Temple  was  again  profaned,  the  sacrifices  were  discontinued,  and  the 
statue  of  Jupiter  Olympius  was  set  up  in  the  Holy  Place. 

These  intolerable  enormities-  were  the  cause  of  the  heroic  struggle  of 
the  Maccabees.  Gaining  victory  after  victory  over  the  Syrians,  they  were 
able,  in  four  years,  that  is,  in  B.  C.,  163,  to  restore  the  Temple;  but  the  cita¬ 
del  of  Zion  was  still  held  by  the  enemy,  and  was  not  finally  surrendered 
for  twenty-one  years.  The  Maccabean  princes  fortified  the  Temple  with 
a  strength  it  had  never  before  had,  making  their  own  residence  in  the  tower 
of  Baris,  which  was  afterward  called  Antonia,  and  which  stood  at  the 
northwest  angle  of  the  Temple  area. 

For  another  hundred  years  Jerusalem  remained  undisturbed,  until  dis¬ 
sensions  among  the  Maccabees  brought  Roman  intervention.  Then  Pom- 
pey  advanced  upon  it,  took  it,  put  12,000  of  the  people  to  the  sword  in 
the  courts  of  the  Temple,  and  yet  left  the  sacred  vessels,  and  the  treasures 
of  the  Temple,  undisturbed,  B.  C.  63.  The  avaricious  Crassus,  twelve 
years  later,  was  less  cruel  to  the  people,  but  plundered  the  Temple  thor¬ 
oughly  of  all  its  treasures. 

In  43>  B.  C.,  began  the  golden  age  of  Jerusalem,  as  a  city  of  strength 
and  splendor,  since  in  that  year  began  the  Herodian  improvements,  under 
Antipater,  father  of  Herod  the  Great.  But  internal  discords  led  to  an  in¬ 
tervention  of  the  Parthians,  B.  C.  40,  and  in  37  Herod,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Romans,  captured  the  city,  after  a  gallant  defence.  The  Jews  held  out  to 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


305 


the  uttermost,  retiring  from  point  to  point,  until  the  last  defenders  were 
subdued  in  the  Tower  of  Baris.  Herod  immediately  set  about  a  complete 
re-fortification  and  embellishment  of  Jerusalem.  The  fortifications  were 
greatly  improved.  Baris  was  re-built  in  greater  strength  than  before,  and 
was  called  Antonia.  On  the  west  of  the  city,  south  of  the  present  Jaffa 
Gate,  was  built  the  citadel,  with  its  three  Towers  of  Hippicus,  Phasaelus 


REBUILDING  OF  THE  WALLS  OF  JERUSALEM.  (NEH.  IV:  l6). 


and  Mariamne,  of  which  (probably),  the  first  remains  under  the  name  of 
the  Tower  of  David.  He  erected  a  town  hall,  and,  also,  according  to  cus¬ 
tom,  a  theater.  Near  the  citadel  he  had  his  own  palace  and  his  gardens. 
Needless  to  say  that  his  greatest  work  of  all,  was  the  restoration  of  the 
Temple,  as  already  described.  Pliny  writes  of  Jerusalem  of  that  time,  that 
it  was  “by  far  the  most  magnificent  of  the  cities  of  the  Orient,  and  not 
merely  of  Judea.” 


3°6 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


After  the  death  of  Christ,  Agrippa  I.  erected  a  wall,  commonly  called 
the  Third  Wall,  which  enclosed  the  whole  of  the  northern  suburb  of 
Bezetha  within  the  city.  This  wall  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  strong, 
being  built  of  huge  stones,  and  being  defended  by  no  less  than  ninety 
towers.  The  strongest  of  these  was  Psephinus  at  the  northwest  angle; 
which  is  said  to  have  been  ioo  feet  in  height.  Agrippa  did  not  complete 
his  wall  for  fear  of  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  Emperor  Claudius.  It 
was  finished  by  the  Jews  in  a  less  substantial  manner  than  that  in  which  it 
had  been  begun.  Its  very  course  is  now  unknown. 

The  time  of  ruin  which  Jesus  foretold  came  on  in  A.  D.  70,  when 
Jerusalem  was  once  again  “compassed  about  with  armies,”  and  after  a 
siege  the  horrors  of  which  have  never  been  surpassed,  it  was  utterly 
destroyed. 

The  following  brief  but  excellent  account  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  is 
taken  from  Baedeker: — 

“Ever  since  the  land  had  become  a  Roman  province,  a  storm  had 
begun  to  brood  in  the  political  atmosphere,  for  the  Jews  were  quite  as 
much  swayed  by  national  pride  as  the  Romans.  The  country  was  more¬ 
over  disquieted  by  roving  marauders  ( sicarii ),  and  several  of  the  Roman 
governors  were  guilty  of  grave  acts  of  oppression,  as  for  instance,  Gessius 
Florus,  who  appropriated  the  treasures  of  the  Temple.  At  this  time  there 
were  two  antagonistic  parties  at  Jerusalem:  the  fanatical  zealots  under 
Eleazer,  who  advocated  revolt  against  the  Romans,  and  a  more  moderate 
party  under  the  High  Priest  Ananias.  Florus,  in  his  undiscriminating 
rage,  having  caused  many  unoffending  Jews  to  be  put  to  death,  a  fearful 
insurrection  broke  out  in  the  city.  Herod  Agrippa  II.  and  his  sister 
Berenice  endeavored  to  pacify  the  insurgents  and  to  act  as  mediators,  but 
were  obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  flight.  The  Zealots  had  already  gained 
possession  of  the  Temple  precincts,  and  the  Castle  of  Antonia  was  now 
also  occupied  by  them.  A  wild  struggle  now  ensued  between  the  two 
Jewish  parties,  and  the  stronger  faction  of  the  Zealots  succeeded  in 
wresting  the  upper  part  of  the  city  from  their  opponents,  and  even  in 
capturing  the  Castle  of  Herod,  which  was  garrisoned  by  3,000  men.  The 
victors  treated  the  captive  Romans  and  their  own  countrymen  with  equal 
barbarity.  Cestius  Gallus,  an  incompetent  general,  now  besieged  the  city, 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


30/ 


but  when  he  had  almost  achieved  success,  he  gave  up  the  siege  and  with¬ 
drew  toward  the  north,  to  Gibeon.  His  camp  was  then  attacked  by  the 
Jews  and  his  army  dispersed.  This  victory  so  elated  the  Jews  that  they 
imagined  they  could  now  entirely  shake  off  the  Roman  yoke.  The  newly 
constituted  council  of  Jerusalem,  com¬ 
posed  of  Zealots,  accordingly  proceeded 
to  organize  an  insurrection  throughout 
the  whole  of  Palestine.  The  Romans, 
however,  now  fully  alive  to  the  serious¬ 
ness  of  the  danger,  despatched  their 
able  general,  Vespasian,  with  60,000  men 
to  Palestine.  This  army  first  quelled  the 
insurrection  in  Galilee  (A.D.67).  Mean¬ 
while,  the  conflicts  within  J erusalem  itself 
continued.  Bands  of  robbers  took  pos¬ 
session  of  the  Temple,  and  when  be¬ 
sieged  by  Ananias,  summoned  to  their 
aid  the  Idumeans  (Edomites), the  ancient 
hereditary  enemies  of  the  Jews.  To 
these  auxiliaries  the  gates  were  thrown 
open,  and  with  their  aid,  the  moderate 
party,  with  Ananias,  its  leader,  was  anni¬ 
hilated.  The  adherents  of  that  party 
were  proscribed,  and  no  fewer  than 
12,000  persons  of  noble  family  are  said 
to  have  perished  on  this  occasion.  The 
Zealots  committed  frightful  excesses, and 
made  common  cause  with  the  robbers, 
while  the  Idumeans,  having  sated  them¬ 
selves  with  plunder,  quitted  Jerusalem. 

It  was  not  until  Vespasian  had  conquered  a  good  part  of  Palestine, 
that  he  advanced  upon  Jerusalem;  but  events  at  Rome  compelled  him  to 
entrust  the  continuation  of  the  campaign  to  his  son  Titus.  When  the 
latter  approached  Jerusalem,  there  were  no  fewer  than  four  parties  within 
its  walls.  The  Zealots,  under  John  of  Giscala,  occupied  the  Castle  of  An- 


A  STREET  IN  JERUSALEM. 


3°8 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


tonia  and  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles,  while  the  robber  party,  under  Simon  of 
Gerasa,  held  the  upper  part  of  the  city;  Eleazer’s  party  were  in  possession 
of  the  Court  of  Israel  and  the  inner  Temple;  and  lastly,  the  moderate 
party  was  also  established  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city.  Titus  marched 
from  Egypt  with  two  legions,  each  of  about  6,000  men;  three  legions  were 
already  on  the  spot;  and  to  these  he  added  another  legion  and  numerous 
auxiliaries.  Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  April,  A.D.  70,  six  legions  were  as¬ 
sembled  in  the  environs  of  Jerusalem.  While  reconnoitering  the  position 
of  the  place,  Titus  narrowly  escaped  being  cut  off  from  his  army.  He 
then  posted  the  main  body  of  his  forces  to  the  north  and  northwest  of  the 
city,  while  one  legion  occupied  the  Mount  of  Olives.  The  Jews  attempted 
a  sally  against  the  latter,  but  were  driven  back  by  Titus,  who  hastened  to 
its  aid.  In  the  course  of  the  conflicts  which  still  continued  within  the  city, 
John  of  Giscala  succeeded  in  driving  Eleazer  from  the  inner  precincts  of 
the  Temple,  but  he  was  still  opposed  by  the  robber  party  under  Simon. 
On  April  23d,  the  besieging  engines  were  brought  up  to  the  west  wall  of 
the  new  town  (perhaps  near  the  present  Jaffa  Gate).  The  Jews  defended 
themselves  bravely,  but  on  the  7th  of  May,  the  Romans  effected  an  en¬ 
trance  into  the  new  town. 

Five  days  later  Titus  endeavored  to  storm  the  second  wall,  but  was 
repulsed.  Three  days  afterward  he  succeeded  in  taking  it,  and  then  he 
caused  the  whole  north  side  of  the  wall  to  be  demolished.  He  now  sent 
Josephus,  who  was  in  his  camp,  to  summon  the  Jews  to  surrender,  but  in 
vain.  A  famine  soon  set  in.  and  those  of  the  besieged  who  endeavored  to 
escape  from  it  and  from  the  barbarities  of  Simon,  were  crucified  by  the 
Romans.  The  besiegers  next  began  to  erect  walls  of  attack,  but  the  Jews 
partially  succeeded  in  destroying  them.  Titus  then  caused  the  city  wall, 
which  was  33  stadia  in  length,  to  be  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  39  stadia  in 
length.  Thus  the  city  was  completely  surrounded;  the  severity  of  the 
famine  was  greatly  aggravated;  and  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  thrown 
over  the  wall  of  the  besieged.  Again  the  battering  rams  were  brought 
into  requisition,  and  at  length,  on  the  night  of  July  5th,  the  castle  was 
stormed.  A  fierce  contest  took  place  around  the  gates  of  the  Temple, 
which  the  Jews  continued  to  hold  with  the  utmost  tenacity.  By  degrees 
the  colonnades  of  the  Temple  were  burned  down;  yet  every  foot  was  stub- 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


309 


bornly  contested.  At  last,  on  the  10th  of  August,  a  Roman  soldier,  con¬ 
trary,  it  is  said,  to  the  command  of  Titus,  cast  a  firebrand  into  the  Tem¬ 
ple;  the  sacred  edifice  was  burned  to  the  ground;  and  those  who  escaped 
the  flames  were  cut  down  by  the  swords  of  the  Romans.  A  body  of 
Zealots,  however,  contrived  to  force  their  way  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
city.  While  the  lower  part  of  the  city  was  actually  in  flames,  negotiations 


BUILDING  OF  THE  SECOND  TEMPLE.  (EZRA  III.) 


were  again  opened  for  a  surrender,  but  in  vain.  The  upper  part  resisted 
stubbornly,  and  it  was  not  until  the  7th  of  September  that  it  was  burned 
down.  Jerusalem  was  now  a  heap  of  ruins.  Those  of  the  surviving  citi¬ 
zens  who  had  fought  against  the  Romans  were  put  to  death,  the  rest  were 
sold  as  slaves.  On  his  return  to  Rome  Titus  celebrated  a  magnificent 
triumph  together  with  his  father  Vespasian,  and  John  of  Giscala  was  led 
as  captive  in  the  triumphal  show.  The  noble  arch  of  Titus  at  Rome  was 


310 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


erected  to  commemorate  this  victory,  which  forever  destroyed  the  political 
importance  of  Jerusalem. 

Thus  the  City  of  David,  and  Solomon,  and  Hezekiah,  and  Herod,  was 
reduced  to  utter  ruin.  The  inhabitants  were  literally  extirpated.  The 
whole  wall,  except  on  the  western  side,  was  demolished.  Only  three  of  all 
the  towers  were  left  standing.  To  prevent  the  re-occupation  of  the  place 
by  Jews,  Caesar’s  famous  Tenth  Legion  was  alone  left  as  a  garrison  over  the 
ruins.  So  it  remained,  peaceful  with  the  peace  of  the  desert,  until  A.  D. 
1 3 1,  when  Hadrian  ordered  it  to  be  rebuilt.  Simultaneously  occurred 
the  great  rebellion  of  the  pretended  Messiah,  Bar-Cochebas,  which  was 
utterly  suppressed  in  135.  From  that  year  some  historians  have  thought 
we  ought  to  date  the  final  dispersion  of  the  Jews  from  their  own  land,  so 
ruthlessly  unsparing  was  the  hand  which  drove  them  out.  In  Jerusalem  a 
Roman  colony  was  established,  and  within  its  limits  no  Jew  was  allowed 
to  enter.  On  Mount  Moriah  a  Temple  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus  was  erected, 
and  the  new  city  was  called  Aelia  Capitolina,  a  name  which  it  continued 
to  bear  for  centuries.  It  was  so  called  even  by  a  Christian  Council  held  in 
536,  and  so  even  Mahommedans  called  it  until  after  the  Crusades,  when  they 
gave  it  the  name  of  El  Khuds ,  or  the  Holy. 

In  less  than  two  hundred  years  from  the  foundation  of  the  new  city 
of  Aelia  Capitolina  on  the  site  of  ancient  Jerusalem,  the  Roman  Empire 
had  become  Christian,  and  m3 2  6  the  Empress  Helena,  mother  of  Constan¬ 
tine,  visited,  in  her  eightieth  year,  the  holy  places  of  the  Christian  religion. 
So  extensive  were  her  works  of  piety  in  the  building  of  churches  and  con- 
vents,  that  when  the  origin  of  any  building,  that  can  be  at  all  referred 
to  that  time  is  unknown,  the  monkish  historians  invariably  fall  back 
upon  the  Empress  Helena  as  its  foundress.  Nine  years  after  the  visit  of 
Helena,  the  Emperor  Constantine  founded  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul¬ 
cher  on  the  site  of  a  Temple  of  Venus,  which  tradition  pointed  out  as  the 
place  of  Christ’s  burial.  There,  too,  was  discovered  the  True  Cross.  Three 
crosses  were  found  at  the  same  spot,  two  of  which  were  at  once  understood 
to  be  those  of  the  thieves  who  were  crucified  with  our  Lord.  To  distin¬ 
guish  the  True  Cross  of  Christ  from  the  crosses  of  the  thieves  was  perfectly 
simple.  A  number  of  sick  people  were  brought  to  the  place,  and  made  to 
touch  the  three  crosses  successively.  In  every  instance  it  was  found  that, 


I'lmiimiift 

imi'iiiiimi 


DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM  BY  ROMANS 

31  I 


3 12 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


when  they  touched  two  of  the  three  crosses,  they  remained  unrelieved,  but 
that  when  they  touched  the  third,  they  were  forthwith  healed  of  whatso¬ 
ever  disease  they  had.  The  conclusion  was  irresistible,  that  the  healing 
cross  was  indeed,  the  Cross  of  Christ.  Naturally,  many  persons  wished 
to  have  a  fragment  of  the  wood  of  the  True  Cross,  and  the  wish  was 
granted  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  wood  thus  given  away  must  have  been 
many  times  as  great  as  the  original  quantity  contained  in  the  cross  itself. 
This,  however,  was  easily  explained  by  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who 
affirmed,  that  the  wood  of  the  True  Cross  was  like  that  of  the  burning 
bush,  and  was  riot  at  all  diminished  by  the  fragments  which  were  taken 
from  it.  Like  the  widow’s  barrel  of  meal,  it  was  not  wasted,  but  day  by 
was  found  to  be  of  the  same  proportions  as  it  was  when  first  it  was  dis¬ 
covered. 

The  apostate  Emperor  Julian  repealed  the  law  which  prohibited  the 
Jews  from  entering  Jerusalem,  and  rather  to  spite  the  Christians  than  to 
gratify  the  Jews,  he  gave  orders  for  the  Temple  to  be  rebuilt.  The  work 
was  accordingly  begun,  but  by  the  death  of  Julian  in  362,  it  came  to  an 
abrupt  conclusion,  and  again  the  Jews  were  excluded  from  the  city  of  their 
fathers.  Throughout  the  fifth  century  and  for  centuries  afterward,  Jerusa¬ 
lem  was  thronged  by  a  never  ceasing  stream  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of 
the  Christian  world,  and  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  or  rather  of  Aelia  Capi- 
olina,  for  so  he  was  called,  was  promoted  to  the  ecclesiastical  rank  of  a 
Patriarch  of  equal  degree  with  the  Patriarchs  of  Rome,  Constantinople  and 
Antioch.  In  527  Justinian  built  a  magnificent  Church  of  the  Virgin  on 
Mount  Moriah,  and  many  convents  and  hospices  for  the  entertainment  of 
pilgrims  to  the  Holy  City. 

In  614,  a  great  disaster  befell.  The  Persians  defeated  the  forces  of 
the  Emperor  Heraclius,  and  took  possession  of  Jerusalem.  There  was  a 
merciless  slaughter  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  notables  of  the  city  and  the  True  Cross,  were  carried  off. 
The  next  year,  however,  peace  was  made  by  the  contending  parties;  the 
prisoners  were  released,  and  the  Emperor  Heraclius  himself  insisted  on 
bearing  back  the  Cross  on  his  own  shoulders  to  the  place  whence  it  had 
been  taken. 

In  636  the  Khalif  Omar  attacked  Jerusalem,  and  after  a  stubborn  re- 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


313 


sistance,  it  surrendered  in  the  following  year.  The  cross  fell  before  the 
crescent,  and  the  beautiful  Church  of  Justinian  was  converted  into  the 
Mosque  of  Omar  which  still  crowns  the  Holy  Mount  of  Moriah.  During 
the  following  centuries  the  Christian  pilgrims  who  thronged  the  Holy  Places, 
which  were  now  in  possession  of  the  infidels,  were  subjected  to  continual 
insults  and  to  the  degrading  payment  of  a  poll-tax  of  so  much  per  head. 
The  indignation  through- 
out  all  Christendom 
smouldered  for  ages  until 
the  time  came  for  it  to 
break  out  in  the  romantic 
episode  of  the  Crusades. 

In  960  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Holy  Land  was  trans¬ 
ferred  from  the  Khalifs 
of  Bagdad  to  the  Fatim- 
ite  Khalifs  of  Egypt;  but 
in  1073,  the  Turkomans, 
having  seized  the  eastern 
Khalifate,  took  possess¬ 
ion  of  the  Holy  Land 
likewise.  The  cruelties 
of  these  barbarians  to 
Christian  pilgrims  ex¬ 
ceeded  all  bounds,  and 
the  first  Crusade  began; 
but  before  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Egyptian  Khalifs  had  resumed  possession.  It  was  with  them,  there¬ 
fore,  that  Godfrey  had  to  contend.  The  siege  lasted  forty  days,  and  on 
the  15th  of  July,  1099,  the  Christians  entered  Jerusalem.  Their  conduct 
was  little  worthy  of  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  they  put  to  the 
sword  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  sparing  neither  old  men,  women 
nor  infants  at  the  breast.  Godfrey  was  elected  King  of  Jerusalem.  The 
Mosque  of  Omar  was  again  turned  into  a  Christian  church,  and  was  made 
the  Cathedral  of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  Thenceforward,  for  88  years, 
the  Holy  City  was,  in  name,  at  least, a  Christian  city. 


TRIUMPHAL  ARCH  OF  TITUS  AT  ROME. 


314 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


In  1 187  the  great  Saladin  recaptured  Jerusalem  from  the  Christians. 
In  1192  he  was  threatened  with  a  siege  by  the  English  Richard  Cceur  de 
Lion,  and  Saladin  fortified  it  strongly;  but  in  1219  it  was  wholly  disman¬ 
tled  by  Sultan  Melek  el  Moaddin  of  Damascus.  In  1229  it  was  delivered 
to  the  Emperor,  Frederick  II.,  on  condition  that  it  should  not  again  be 
fortified.  Ten  years  later,  however,  fortifications  were  begun,  contrary  to 
the  stipulation;  and  this  breach  of  good  faith  was  severely  punished.  The 
Emir  David,  of  Kerek,  advanced  upon  it  and  seized  it,  cast  down  the 
works  which  had  already  been  erected,  and  strangled  the  inhabitants.  In 
1243  it  was  again  surrendered,  this  time  unconditionally,  to  the  Christians, 
and  the  fortifications  were  again  resumed,  but  only  to  fall  shortly  into 
Moslem  hands.  At  length,  after  so  many  vicissitudes,  Jerusalem  came 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Turkish  sovereign,  Selim  I.,  and  the  present 
fortifications  are  the  work  of  Suleyman,  the  Magnificent.  According  to  an 
inscription  which  appears  over  the  Jaffa  Gate,  they  were  erected  in  1542. 
From  that  time  almost  without  intermission,  Jerusalem  has  remained 
under  Turkish  rule.  In  1832  it  fell,  without  a  siege,  into  the  hand  of 
Mehemet  Ali,  Pasha  of  Egypt.  Two  years  later,  an  insurrection  broke 
out,  and  the  city  was  seized  by  the  insurgents,  but  on  the  approach  of 
Ibrahim  Pasha  the  gates  were  thrown  open  and  the  insurrection  was 
speedily  put  down.  In  1841  Mehemet  Ali  was  deprived  of  his  Syrian  do¬ 
minions  by  command  of  the  Great  Powers  of  Europe,  and  Jerusalem  re¬ 
verted  to  the  Turks,  in  whose  possession  it  still  remains. 


CHAPTER  X. 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM— THE  WALLS,  TOWERS,  GATES  AND  WATER- 

SUPPLY. 


The  Walls  of  Ancient  Jerusalem — Impossible  to  be  Traced  — Question  of  the  North  Wall  as  Affecting 
the  Place  of  the  Crucifixion  and  the  Resurrection— The  Towers — Antonia  Described  by  Jose¬ 
phus — Hippicus  and  Phasaelus — The  so-called  Tower  of  David — Gates — The  Fountain  Gate — 
The  Dung  Gate — The  Gate  of  the  Valley — Water  Supply— Solomon’s  Pools — High  Level  Aque¬ 
duct — Upper  Pool  of  Gihon — Lower  Pool  of  Gihon — Pool  of  Siloam — Northern  Pool — Spring  of 
the  Virgin — Job’s  Well— Pools  within  the  City — Pool  of  Hezekiah — Bethesda — Uncertainties  of 
the  Topography  of  Jerusalem. 


'HE  rapid  sketch  of  the  history,  given  in  the  previous 
chapter,  of  Jerusalem  has  been  purposely  inserted 
before  any  attempt  to  give  an  account' of  the 
ancient  walls  of  Jerusalem,  because,  after  so 
many  destructions  and  rebuildings,  the  reader 
will  perceive  how  impossible  it  must  be  to 
speak  of  that  subject  with  any  confidence.  In 
fact,  the  highest  and  best  informed  authorities 
differ  from  each  other  in  the  most  important 
particulars.  It  is  altogether  beyond  our  pur¬ 
pose  to  investigate  the  antiquarian  questions 
involved  in  that  discussion.  In  general  terms, 
then,  we  may  be  content  to  say,  that  the  first 
wall  included  the  Upper  City  of  Zion,  and 
probably  extended  much  to  the  south  of  the 
present  wall,  which  leaves  a  large  part  of  the 
hill  outside  of  the  modern  city.  That  it  ex¬ 
tended  on  the  east  along  the  border  of  the 
deep  Tyropeon  ravine,  may  also  be  assumed 
as  certain.  Its  course  on  the  west  probably 
coincided  with  the  present  wall.  Of  its  north¬ 
ern  line,  we  have  already,  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  smd  all  that  need  be  said.  Of  the  later  fortifications  nothing  what- 

3*5 


316 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


ever  is  certain,  except  that  the  second  wall  included  at  least  the  Acra  or 
Lower  City,  and  the  Temple  Area,  and  probably  the  lower  ridge  of  Ophel. 
Concerning  the  northern  line  of  the  second  wall,  the  controversy  is  espec¬ 
ially  bitter,  because  it  involves  the  correctness  of  the  traditional  site  of  the 
sepulcher  of  our  Saviour.  We  know  that  He  was  crucified  outside  the 
wall  of  the  city,  and  that  He  was  laid  in  a  new  tomb  near  by,  which  was 
also,  of  course,  outside  the  wall.  But  the  traditional  site  is  within  the 
present  wall;  in  fact,  it  is  in  the  heart  of  the  town.  The  question,  therefore, 
is  whether  the  wall,  at  the  time  of  Christ,  did  or  did  not,  include 
that  spot  within  the  city.  Roman  Catholics  and  Oriental  Christians 
think  it  did  not;  but  the  weight  of  evidence  and  argument  is  in  favor  of 
the  belief,  that  the  wall,  at  that  time,  did  include  the  spot,  and  there, 
fore,  that  it  cannot  be  the  true  place  of  our  Saviour’s  death,  burial  and 
resurrection.  The  third  wall  of  Agrippa  took  in  also,  not  only  the  hill 
of  Bezetha,  but  a  large  space  further  north,  and  lying,  of  course,  north  of 
the  second  wall.  Its  precise  course  cannot  now  be  accurately  traced. 

Of  the  towers  of  Jerusalem  we  know  little  more  than  of  the  walls. 
Only  two  can  be  identified  with  reasonable  certainty. 

At  the  extreme  west  of  the  north  wall  of  the  Temple  area,  and,  of 
course,  without  the  area,  was  a  tower  originally  called  Baris.  It  was  the 
part,  of  all  the  defenses  of  the  city,  which  held  out  longest  against  Herod 
and  the  Romans,  B.  C.  37.  Herod  re-fortified  it,  and,  to  prevent  attack 
from  the  direction  of  Bezetha,  Josephus  says  that  he  deepened  the  valley 
between  the  Temple  Mount  and  the  New  City.  The  new  fort  was  called 
Antonia ,  and  it  is  thus  described  by  Josephus:  “Now  as  to  the  Tower  of 
Antonia;  it  was  situated  at  the  corner  of  two  cloisters  of  the  court  of  the 
Temple,  that  on  the  west  and  that  on  the  north.  It  was  erected  upon  a 
rock  of  fifty  cubits  in  height,  and  was  on  a  great  precipice.  It  was  the  work 
of  Herod,  wherein  he  demonstrated  his  natural  magnanimity.  In  the  first 
place,  the  rock  itself  was  covered  over  with  smooth  pieces  of  stone,  from  the 
foundation  upward,  and  that  not  only  for  ornament,  but  that,  if  any  one 
should  try  to  scale  it  he  might  find  no  resting-place  for  his  feet.  Next  to 
this,  and  before  you  came  to  the  Tower  itself,  was  a  wall  three  cubits  high; 
and  within  that  wall  all  the  space  of  the  Tower  of  Antonia  itself  was  built 
upon  to  the  height  of  forty  cubits.  The  inward  parts  had  the  extent  and. 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


3IF 

form  of  a  palace,  being  divided  into  rooms  with  all  kinds  of  conveniences, 
such  as  courts  and  places  for  bathing.  By  its  magnificence,  it  seemed  to 
be  a  palace;  but  its  entire  structure  was  that  of  a  tower,  and  it  had  four 
distinct  towers  at  its  four  corners.  Three  of  these  were  titty  cubits  high, 
but  that  at  the  southeast  corner  was  seventy  cubits  high,  and  from  thence 
the  whole  Temple  might  be  viewed.  Where  Antonia  joined  with  the  clois¬ 
ters  of  the  Temple,  there  were  passages  leading  to  both,  so  that  the  soldiers 


CITADEL  OF  JERUSALEM. 

of  the  Roman  legion,  which  always  occupied  Antonia,  as  a  guard,  could 
enter  the  cloisters  and  prevent  any  disorder  among  the  people.”  On  the 
site  of  Antonia  now  stands  the  Turkish  Infantry  Barracks. 

Just  below  the  Jaffa  Gate  is  the  Citadel  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  an  irregu¬ 
lar  group  of  five  square  towers,  originally  surrounded  by  a  moat,  part  of 
which  is  still  preserved.  The  substructure  of  the  masonry  consists  of  large 
blocks  of  stone,  some  of  which  are  ten  feet  in  length,  and  rises  to  a  height 


313 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


of  39  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  moat.  The  position  of  the  citadel  cor¬ 
responds  with  that  of  the  Tower  of  Hippicus  (and  Phasaelus),  as  described 
by  Josephus,  and  one  of  its  towers  was  early  called,  by  the  Crusaders,  the 
Tower  of  David.  It  was  probably  built  by  Herod,  whose  palaces  and 
gardens  were  to  the  south  of  it;  and,  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  by 
Titus,  this  tower  alone  may  have  been  left  standing  as  a  fortress  for  the 
Tenth  Legion,  which  was  left  at  the  ruins.  The  Tower  of  David  is  thus 
described  by  Col.  Wilson:  “The  Tower  of  David  appears  to  be  the  oldest 
portion  of  the  citadel,  and  its  dimensions  and  mode  of  construction  agree 
well  with  those  of  the  Tower  Phasaelus,  as  described  by  Josephus.  The 
substructure  consists  of  a  solid  masonry  escarp,  rising  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch,  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  with  a  pathway  round 
the  top.  Above  this  the  tower  rises  in  a  solid  mass,  for  a  height  of  29  feet, 
and  then  comes  the  superstructure.  The  escarp  retains  to  some  extent  its 
original  appearance,  but  time  and  hard  treatment  have  worn  away  much 
of  the  finer  work,  and  the  repairs  have  been  executed  in  the  usual  slovenly 
manner  of  the  Turks.  The  old  work,  where  it  can  be  seen,  is  equal,  if  not 
superior  to  the  best  specimens  of  masonry  in  the  far-famed  Temple  Plat¬ 
form  ;  the  faces  of  the  stones  are  dressed  with  an  astonishing  degree  of  fine¬ 
ness,  and  the  whole,  when  perfect,  must  have  presented  a  smooth  surface 
difficult  to  escalade,  and  from  the  solidity  of  the  mass,  unassailable  to  the 
battering-ram.  The  superstructure  contains  several  chambers  and  a  cis¬ 
tern  for  the  collection  of  rain-water.  In  one  of  the  rooms  a  mihrab  marks 
the  place  where,  according  to  Moslem  tradition,  David  composed  the 
Psalms,  and  another  chamber  is  pointed  out  as  the  reception  room  of  the 
same  king.  The  Tower  of  David  was  the  last  place  to  hold  out  when  Jeru¬ 
salem  was  captured  by  the  Crusaders;  and  when  the  city  walls  were  de¬ 
stroyed  by  the  Moslems  in  the  thirteenth  century,  it  was  for  some  reason 
— probably  its  solidity — spared,  to  come  down  to  our  time  as  a  fine  ex¬ 
ample  of  mural  masonry  of  the  Jews.” 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  on  the  land  once  occupied  by  the  palace 
and  gardens  of  Herod  on  the  east  and  southeast  of  the  Tower  of  Hippicus 
here  now  stands  an  hospital,  an  English  church  and  parsonage,  a  school, 
and  the  residence  of  an  English  bishop. 

Since  it  is  impossible  to  trace  the  course  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  it 


POOL  OF  HEZEKIAH 


— 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


321 


must  be  equally  impossible  to  locate  the  twenty-three  gates  which  are 
mentioned  in  Holy  Scripture.  In  his  account  of  the  rebuilding  Nehemiah 
names  no  less  than  nine  gates  in  their  order,  and  mentions  two  more 
afterward.  The  Fountain  Gate  was  doubtless  on  the  south,  near  the  Pool 
of  Siloam.  The  Gate  of  the  Valley,  before  the  Dragon  Well  (Neh.  ii:  13) 

m 

was  opposite  the  Pool  of  Gihon  at  the  northwest  end  of  Zion,  “probably,” 
says  Dr.  Tristram,  “a  little  north  of  the  present  Jaffa  Gate.”  The  Dung 
Gate  is  placed  by  tradition  at  the  southeast  of  the  City  of  David. 

A  more  interesting  subject  is  that  of  the  water  supply  of  Jerusalem, 
the  importance  of  which  to  a  city  which  was  destined  to  undergo  so 
many  protracted  sieges,  cannot  be  over-estimated.  The  care  taken  to 
provide  an  unfailing  supply  was  very  great,  and  it  is  to  the  explorations 
made  in  investigating  this  part  of  the  topography  of  the  city  that  the  old 
Jerusalem  of  David  and  Solomon  has  been  laid  bare  to  modern  research. 
We  may  here  in  the  main  safely  follow  the  account  of  Dr.  Tristram. 

The  Roman  historian,  Tacitus,  speaks  of  Jerusalem  as  a  fountain  of 
never-failing  waters,  and  as  mountains  hollowed  beneath  the  surface  into 
cisterns.  That  description  is  correct.  The  supply  of  water  was  three¬ 
fold:  from  springs,  tanks  and  aqueducts.  The  chief  reservoirs  were  under 
Mount  Moriah,  into  which,  to  this  day,  the  lower  of  the  three  aque¬ 
ducts  from  Solomon’s  Pools  still  conveys  a  never-failing  stream.  They 
are  estimated  to  have  had  a  united  capacity  of  10,000,000  gallons,  and  one 
of  them  singly  must  have  contained  2,000,000  gallons.  But  before  proceed¬ 
ing  further,  we  must  look  at  these  famous  pools. 

About  four  miles  to  the  southwest  of  Bethlehem  is  Burak ,  otherwise 
called  Solomon’s  Pools.  Near  by  is  a  castle,  or  rather  a  large  square 
building  with  corner  towers,  and  dating  in  its  present  form  from  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  was  erected  for  protection  against  the  Arabs,  and 
is  still  garrisoned  by  a  few  Turkish  soldiers.  Less  than  two  hundred 
paces  to  the  west  of  the  castle  is  a  small  door  which  leads  to  the  Sealed 
Spring  to  which  reference  is  made,  perhaps,  in  Cant,  iv:  12,  where  the 
bridegroom  says  of  the  bride:  “A  garden  enclosed  is  my  sister,  my  spouse; 
a  spring  shut  up,  a  fountain  sealed.”  This  spring  is  doubly  enclosed  and 
sealed  with  solid  rock.  Through  the  door  in  the  hillside  we  enter  a 
vaulted  chamber,  and  to  the  right  of  it  is  a  smaller  chamber,  at  the  end  of 


322 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


which  the  spring  bubbles  forth.  The  beautifully  clear  water  is  collected 
in  a  basin  from  which  it  is  conducted  by  a  channel  to  the  first  of  the 
“pools.” 

The  pools  are  situated  in  a  small  valley  lying  at  the  back  of  the  castle; 
and  sloping  toward  the  east.  The  first  and  highest  of  them  is  bounded  on 
the  west  side  by  the  road  which  leads  from  Jerusalem  to  Hebron.  This 
pool  is  127  yards  long;  at  the  upper  or  west  end  it  is  76  yards  wide;  at  the 
lower  end  it  is  79  yards  wide.  The  second  pool  is  53  yards  east  of  the 
first,  and  is  about  19  feet  lower.  It  is  141  yards  long,  by  53  yards  wide  at 
the  upper  end,  and  83  yards  at  the  lower  end.  The  third  pool  is  52  yards 
east  of  the  middle  pool,  and  its  level  is  19  feet  lower.  Its  length  is  194 
yards,  by  49  yards  wide  at  the  upper  end,  and  69  yards  at  the  lower.  The 
depth  of  the  upper  pool  is  25  feet;  of  the  middle  pool,  39  feet;  of  the 
lower  pool,  50  feet.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  measurements,  that  the  lower 
pool  is  large  enough  to  float  the  largest  ship  now  in  existence  on  the  ocean. 
All  three  are  mainly  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  though  they  are  partly 
lined  with  masonry,  and  the  inner  walls  are  supported  by  buttresses.  The 
lowest  pool  was  always  emptied  first,  and  was  filled  again  from  the  middle 
pool,  which,  in  like  manner,  was  filled  from  the  upper.  They  were  fed 
from  the  sealed  fountain  and  several  other  springs  in  the  neighborhood, 
the  water  from  which,  together  with  the  surface  water,  was  carefully  con¬ 
ducted  to  the  pools.  From  these  pools  a  bountiful  supply  was  furnished  by 
means  of  pipes  and  aqueducts  to  Bethlehem  and  Hebron  as  well  as  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  To  Jerusalem  it  was  conducted  by  solidly  built  aqueducts  at  three  dif¬ 
ferent  levels,  the  lowest  of  which  was  so  completely  concealed  from  detec¬ 
tion  that  if  the  highest,  or  even  the  second,  was  discovered  and  cut  off 
by  an  invading  enemy,  the  third  would  still  secure  an  ample  supply.  To 
this  day  the  water  flows  in  the  lower  aqueducts,  and  reaches  Jerusalem 
under  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  flowing  into  the  same  reservoirs,  now  much 
out  of  repair,  which  existed  under  the  Temple.  Whether  these  pools  and 
the  aqueducts  which  connect  them  with  Jerusalem,  were  really  the  work  of 
King  Solomon,  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  Strange  to  say,  they  are  attributed 
to  Pontius  Pilate.  It  is  beyond  dispute  that  Pilate  brought  upon  himself 
the  execrations  of  the  Jews  by  taking  from  the  Temple  Treasury  the  money 
required  for  the  building,  or,  at  least,  the  repair  and  renewal  of  extensive 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


323 


water-works  for  the  city;  but  it  seems  to  be  incredible  that  he  should 
have  excavated  those  pools  themselves  without  some  mention  being  made 
of  so  immense  a  work.  Prior  to  the  time  of  Christ,  there  is  no  person¬ 
age  in  Jewish  history  to  whom  the  construction  of  the  pools  can  be  as¬ 
cribed  with  so  much  inherent  probability,  as  the  great  King  Solomon. 
The  rabbis  of  the  Mishna  are  explicit  in  declaring  that  he  made  gardens 
at  Etham,  which  is  near  by  the  pools,  and  conveyed  the  waters  thence  to 
Jerusalem;  and  the  writer  of  Ecclesiastes  probably  alludes  to  the  same 
fact  in  these  words:  “I  made  me  gardens  and  orchards,  and  T planted  trees 
of  all  kinds  of  fruits;  I  made  me  pools 
of  water  to  water  therewith  the  wood 
that  bringeth  forth  trees”  (Eccl.  ii:  5,  6). 

Perhaps  the  “high-level”  aque- 
dect  which  brought  water  at  so  high  a 
level  as  to  deliver  it  to  the  lofty  streets 
of  Mount  Zion  was  as  great  a  work 
as  the  pools  and  aqueducts  of  Sol¬ 
omon.  “South  of  Solomon’s  Pools,’’ 
says  Dr.  Geikie,  “in  a  glen  called 
Wady  Byar,  a  flight  of  rockhewn 
steps  leads  down  to  a  chamber  sixty 
feet  below  the  ground  at  its  upper 
end,  and  seventy  at  its  lower.  From 
this  a  tunnel,  from  five  to  twenty-five 
feet  high,  stretches  up  the  valley? 
away  from  Jerusalem,  ending  at  a 
natural  cleft  in  the  rocks  from  which 
water  freely  comes.  From  the  lower 
end,  a  similar  tunnel  runs  for  nearly  five  miles  through  hard  lime¬ 
stone,  reaching  day,  at  last,  on  the  under  side  of  a  great  dam  of  masonry 
which  crosses  the  whole  valley.  Shafts,  sixty  to  seventy  feet  deep,  have 
been  sunk  in  the  rock,  in  the  course  of  this  long  excavation,  to  facilitate 
the  work;  the  dam  being  intended,  as  it  seems,  to  keep  back  the  surface 
water  till  it  soaked  down  to  the  channel  opened  for  it  beneath.  About 
three  furlongs  below  the  dam,  the  channel  which,  for  this  space,  runs  above 


TOWER  OF  HIPPICUS. 


324 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


ground,  enters  another  tunnel  a  third  of  a  mile  in  length,  and  a  hundred 
and  fifteen  feet  beneath  the  surface,  and  in  some  parts  fourteen  feet  high. 
A  masonry  channel  then  winds  round  the  hill,  and,  sinking  below  the 
ground  again,  crosses  the  valley,  at  the  head  of  which  lie  the  pools  of  Solo¬ 
mon,  and  running  along  the  side  of  the  Valley  of  Urtas  till  it  flowed  an¬ 
ciently  into  a  great  tank  near  Jerusalem.  From  this  the  water  was  carried 
by  means  of  an  inverted  siphon  two  miles  long,  over  the  valley  in  which  is 
Rachel’s  Tomb.  This  part  of  the  work  is  alone  an  extraordinary  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  skill  of  the  ancient  engineers  who  contrived  it.  The  tube  for 
the  water  is  fifteen  inches  in  diameter,  the  joints,  which  seem  to  have  been 
ground  or  turned,  being  connected  by  an  exceedingly  hard  cement,  and 
set  on  a  frame  of  blocks  of  stone  bedded  in  the  rubble  masonry  all  round 
to  a  thickness  of  three  feet.  Unfortunately  we  cannot  trace  the  last  sec¬ 
tion,  which  has  been  so  completely  destroyed  that  it  is  not  known  where 
the  aqueduct  finally  entered  Jerusalem.  One  fact,  however,  and  that  an 
astonishing  one,  has  been  discovered,  namely,  that  it  delivered  water  at  a 
point  twenty  feet  higher  than  the  sill  of  the  Joppa  Gate,  for  it  seems  be¬ 
yond  question  to  have  been  the  source  from  which  the  bronze  statues  in 
Herod’s  palace  gardens,  spoken  of  by  Josephus,  as  pouring  water  into  the 
fountains,  obtained  their  supply;  and  the  palace  stood  on  the  top  of  Mount 
Zion.  The  glory  of  this  great  aqueduct  seems  to  have  been  due  to  the 
genius  of  Herod,  and,  it  must  therefore,  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  have  been 
one  of  the  recent  wonders  of  his  reign.  Or  was  it,  in  part,  at  least,  due  to 
Pontius  Pilate?  though  his  aqueduct  may  more  probably  have  been  on  an 
even  greater  scale,  traces  of  which  have  recently  been  discovered,  and  by 
which  water  was  brought  from  Hebron.” 

The  following  pools  or  reservoirs  still  exist  at  Jerusalem :  the  Birket 
Mamilla ,  the  Birket  es  Sultan,  the  Birket  Sitti  Mariam,  the  Pool  of  Silo- 
am,  and  a  pool  near  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings;  these  are  without  the  walls. 
Within  the  walls  there  are  also  the  Pool  of  Hezekiah  and  the  Pool  of 
Bethesda. 

The  Birket  Mamilla,  commonly  called  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon  is 
situated  near  the  Jaffa  Gate,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  road  from  Jaffa. 
If  the  Birket  Mamilla  is  indeed  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon,  then  it  is  the 
scene  of  the  anointing  of  King  Solomon,  as  we  read  in  i  Kings  i  138-39, 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


that  “Zadoc,  the  priest,  and  Nathan,  the  prophet,  caused  Solomon  to  ride 
upon  King  David’s  mule,  and  brought  him  to  Gihon.  And  Zadoc,  the 
priest,  took  an  horn  of  oil  out  of  the  Tabernacle  and  anointed  Solomon.” 
At  a  later  time  the  prophet  Isaiah  went  forth  to  meet  Ahaz  “at  the  end  of 


TOWER  OF  DAVID. 


the  conduit  of  the  Upper  Pool  in  the  highway  of  the  fuller’s  field  (Isa.  vii: 
3);  and  it  was  at  the  same  place  that  Rabshakeh  stood  when  he  delivered 
the  insulting  message  of  his  master,  the  King  of  Assyria  (2  Kings  xviii:  17). 
We  read  also  that  King  Hezekiah  “stopped  the  upper  water-course  (that 
is,  the  outflow  of  the  water)  of  Gihon,  and  brought  it  straight  down  to  the 


326 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


west  side  of  the  City  of  David”  (2  Chron.  xxxii:  30).  The  Birket  Mamilla 
is  undoubtedly  the  Serpent  Pool  mentioned  by  Josephus,  a  name  which 
he  may  have  derived  from  the  Dragon  Well  of  Jeremiah,  which  seems  to 
have  been  on  the  west  side  of  Jerusalem,  and  was  probably  the  same 
(Neh.  ii:  13). 

The  Birket  Mamilla  is  three  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  long  by  two 
hundred  and  eight  feet  wide,  and  its  average  depth  is  nineteen  feet.  Its 
estimated  capacity  is  8,000,000  gallons;  but  there  is  a  large  accumulation 
of  rubbish  at  the  bottom,  so  that  its  actual  capacity  is  considerably  less. 
It  collects  the  surface  drainage  of  the  upper  part  of  the  Valley  of  Hinnom, 
and  is  not  as  well  situated  as  it  might  be  for  that  purpose,  but  the  actual 
situation  was  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  a  level  sufficiently  high  to  send 
water  to  the  Pool  of  Hezekiah  and  to  the  Citadel.  It  is  now  entirely  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  Mahometan  cemetery. 

The  Birket  es  Sultan ,  or  the  Sultan  s  Pool ,  is  also  called  the  Lower 
Pool  of  Gihon,  It  lies  lower  down  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  so  low,  indeed, 
that  its  water  could  only  be  serviceable  for  purposes  of  irrigation.  Its 
capacity  was  much  greater  than  that  of  the  Upper  Pool,  amounting  to 
19,000,000  gallons.  It  was  formed  by  throwing  a  dam  or  causeway  across 
the  valley,  and  closing  the  upper  end  by  a  slight  embankment;  the  sides 
being  formed  by  the  natural  rock.  Isaiah  mentions  this  reservoir,  saying, 
“Ye  gathered  together  the  waters  of  the  Lower  Pool”  (Isa.  xxii:9).  Imme¬ 
diately  above  this  pool  the  aqueduct  from  Solomon’s  Pools  crosses  the 
Valley  of  Hinnom,  and  a  road  which  is  probably  ancient,  passes  over 
the  causeway.  The  Lower  Pool  of  Gihon  is  now  dry. 

The  Pools,  or  more  properly,  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  is  situated  below  the 
end  of  Ophel,  at  the  junction  of  the  Tyropeon  Valley  with  the  Valley  of 
Jehoshaphat.  The  Upper  Pool  is  probably  the  Shiloah  mentioned  by  the 
prophet  Isaiah  (viii : 6),  whose  waters  “went  softly,”  that  is,  secretly,  by  a 
covered  or  hidden  way,  and  were  refused  by  the  people.  Nehemiah  records 
that  “the  wall  of  the  Pool  of  Shiloah,  by  the  King’s  garden,”  was  built  (or 
rebuilt)  by  Shallum  (Neh.  iii:  15).  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  pool  thus 
described  is  the  same  which  still  bears  the  same  name;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  whatever  that  it  is  the  very  pool  to  which  our  Savior  sent  the  man 
who  had  been  born  blind  to  wash  and  recover  his  sight  (John  iv :  7—  1 1 ). 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


327 

The  tradition  is  unbroken  and  consistent.  Siloam  is  frequently  mentioned 
by  Josephus,  by  the  Christian  Fathers  and  by  a  long  line  of  travelers.  At 
one  time  a  Christian  church  was  built  over  the  pool,  but  it  has  gone  so 
completely  to  ruin  that  only  the  rubbish  remains.  The  appearance  of 
Siloam  is  in  no  way  attractive.  The  crumbling  walls  and  fallen  columns 


LOWER  POOL  OF  GIHON. 


give  it  an  appearance  of  desolation  which  Dr.  Thomson  says  is  extreme, 
even  in  that  land  of  ruins. 

The  descent  to  the  pool  is  as  rough  as  to  the  bottom  of  a  quarry. 
The  basin  is  a  parallelogram  53  feet  long  by  18  wide,  and  its  original 
depth  must  have  been  about  twenty  feet.  The  water  of  this  pool  is 
derived  from  the  Spring  of  the  Virgin,  which  is  about  1,700  feet  further  up 
the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  is  brought  down  to  Siloam  through  a 
tunnel  or  underground  aqueduct  which  will  presently  be  described. 
St.  Jerome  was  the  first  to  give  an  account  of  the  irregular  flow  of  its 


328 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


waters,  which  corresponds  to  some  extent  with  a  similar  irregularity  in  the 
flow  of  the  spring  from  which  they  come.  A  little  to  the  east  of  the  main 
pool  is  a  lesser  basin,  now  completely  dry,  into  which  the  water  of  the 
upper  pool  formerly  flowed.  Near  it  grows  an  ancient  mulberry  tree  sup¬ 
ported  by  props  of  stone;  and  this  is  said  to  be  the  place  where  the 
prophet  Isaiah  was  sawn  asunder  in  the  presence  of  King  Manasseh, 
The  streamlet  from  the  upper  pool  flows  past  the  lower,  and  loses  itself  in 
the  garden  below. 

“We  are  quite  certain,”  says  Dr.  Tristram,  “that  the  spot  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  ancient  Shiloh  and  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  The  name  has 
come  down  to  us  unchanged  in  the  langauge  of  the  country.  An  old 
traveler,  four  hundred  years  ago,  describes  this  bath  as  surrounded  by 
walls  and  buttresses  like  a  cloister,  and  the  arches  supported  by  marble 
pillars,  the  remains  of  which  have  been  mentioned.  But  this  is  now  gone. 
The  present  pool  is  a  ruin  with  no  moss  or  ivy  to  make  it  romantic;  its 
sides  falling  in;  its  pillars  broken;  its  stairs  a  fragment;  its  walls  giving 
way;  the  edge  of  every  stone  worn  round  or  sharp  by  time;  in  some  parts 
mere  debris ;  once  Siloam,  now,  like  the  city  which  overhung  it,  a  heap; 
though  around  its  edges  wild  flowers,  and,  among  other  plants,  the  caper- 
tree,  grow  luxuriantly.”  Besides  the  caper,  or  hyssop  of  Scripture — the 
plant  which  brightens  many  an  otherwise  arid  spot  and  hangs  in  dark 
green  tufts  from  the  walls  of  Jerusalem — the  sides  of  the  inner  pool  are 
almost  clothed  with  the  fronds  of  the  maidenhair  fern,  that  most  beautiful 
ornament  of  every  well  and  pool  in  Palestine. 

To  the  left  of  the  main  road  leading  northward  from  Jerusalem,  and 
a  little  beyond  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  are  the  remains  of  another  exten¬ 
sive  pool,  now  nearly  filled  with  soil  washed  down  by  the  rains.  It  is 
admirably  situated  for  collecting  the  surface  drainage  of  the  upper 
branches  of  the  Kedron  Valley,  and  may  probably  have  been  in  ancient 
times  the  largest  of  all  the  pools  in  the  neighborhood.  Its  history  is 
unknown,  and  the  conduit  by  which  its  water  was  conveyed  to  the  city  has 
never  been  discovered. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  Ophel,  fronting  the  Mount  of  Offence,  and 
directly  south  of  the  Haram  enclosure,  is  Ain  Sitti  Mariam,  the  Spring 
of  the  Virgin,  which  must  not  be  confounded  with  Birket  Sitti  Mariam, 


Solomon’s  pools. 


\ 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


33i 


a  small  pool  of  the  same  name  outside  and  a  little  to  the  north  of 
St.  Stephen’s  Gate.  The  source  of  the  spring  is  believed  to  be  beneath 
the  Temple  vaults,  whence  the  stream  of  living  water  is  conducted  by  a 
peculiar  outlet  or  channel  to  Ain  Sitti  Mariam.  The  flow  of  the  Virgin’s 
Spring  is  intermittent.  When  Dr.  Robinson  and  his  companion  Dr. 
Smith  were  exploring  there  Dr.  Smith  “was  standing  on  the  lower  step 
near  the  water  with  one  foot  on  the  step  and  the  other  on  a  loose 
stone  lying  in  the  basin.  All  at  once  he  perceived  the  water  coming 
into  his  shoe,  and  supposing  the  stone  had  rolled,  he  withdrew  his  foot 
to  the  step,  which,  however,  was  also  now  covered  with  water,”  “This” 
says  Dr.  Robinson,  “instantly  excited  our  curiosity,  and  we  now  per¬ 
ceived  the  water  rapidly  bubbling  up  from  under  the  lower  step.  In 
less  than  five  minutes  it  had  risen  in  the  basin  nearly  or  quite  a  foot,  and 
we  could  hear  it  gurgling  off  through  the  interior  passage.  In  ten  minutes 
more  it  had  ceased  to  flow,  and  the  water  in  the  basin  was  reduced  to 
its  former  level.  Thrusting  my  staff  in  under  the  lower  step  whence  the 
water  appeared  to  come,  I  found  that  there  was  a  large  hollow  space,  but 
a  further  examination  could  not  be  made  without  removing  the  steps.” 
The  intermittent  and  remittent  flow  of  springs  is  readily  accounted  for  by 
the  Arabs,  who  attribute  it  to  the  agency  of  genie  or  demons.  A  foun¬ 
tain  which  is  haunted  by  one  of  these  superhuman  creatures,  they  say, 
flows  peacefully  so  long  as  he  sleeps,  but  as  soon  as  he  awakes,  it  stops. 
Dr.  Robinson  compares  this  account  of  the  irregular  flow  of  Ain  Sitti 
Mariam  with  the  account  given  of  the  angel  who  “went  down,  at  a  certain 
season,  into  the  pool  (of  Bethesda)  and  troubled  the  water”  (John  v:  4); 
and  for  various  'reasons  he  thinks  it  worth  while  to  consider  whether  Ain 
Sitti  Mariam  may  not  be  the  true  Pool  of  Bethesda,  instead  of  the  pool 
which  now  goes  by  that  name.  He  himself  has  no  further  opinion  on  the 
subject;  and  the  general  opinion  seems  to  be  that  the  question  is  not 
deserving  of  serious  consideration. 

The  intermissions  in  the  flow  of  the  water  of  Ain  Sitti  Mariam  are  not 
entirely  capricious,  but  have  a  certain  regularity.  In  the  rainy  season,  the 
water  flows  from  three  to  five  times  daily ;  in  summer,  twice;  in  autumn,  only 
once.  This  is  explained  as  follows:  In  the  rock  from  which  the  flow  comes, 
there  is  supposed  to  be  a  deep  natural  reservoir,  fed  by  numerous  rivulets, 


332 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


or  springs,  and  having  only  a  narrow  outlet,  which  begins  a  little  above  the 
bottom  of  the  reservoir,  and  then  rises  to  a  higher  point  before  descending 
to  the  Virgin’s  Spring.  As  soon  as  the  water  in  the  reservoir  has  risen  to 
the  height  of  the  bend  in  the  outlet,  it  will,  of  course,  begin  to  flow  through 
it,  and  it  will  continue  to  flow,  on  the  siphon  principle,  until  it  has  sunk  in 
the  reservoir  to  the  point  where  the  outlet  begins.  The  demon  in  the  case 
is  a  well-known  law  of  nature.  There  is  reason  to  believe. that  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  were  able  to  cut  off  the  outlet  from  the  inner 
source  of  the  spring,  and  that  in  time  of  war  they  were  thus  enabled,  at 
once,  to  deprive  besiegers  of  the  use  of  the  fountains  without  the  walls. 

The  overflow  of  Ain  Sitti  Mariam  passes  to  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  through 
an  underground  tunnel,  which  several  travelers  have  actually  explored, 
notably  Dr.  Robinson,  Dr.  Smith,  Captain  Warren  and  Herr  Tobler. 
The  passage  is  of  rude  construction,  and  of  varying  height.  At  the  Siloam 
end,  it  is  sixteen  feet  high,  and,  midway  between  the  openings,  it  sinks  to 
only  two  feet  high;  but,  as  the  bottom  is  covered  with  a  calcareous  silt,  two 
feet  thick,  and  so  hardened  at  the  top  as  to  support  a  man’s  weight,  the 
passage,  as  it  was  made,  must  have  been  a  minimum  height  of  four  feet. 
Curiously  enough,  the  tunnel  is  not  straight,  but  has  several  windings,  and 
a  number  of  small  chambers  where  the  workmen,  finding  that  they  were 
going  in  a  wrong  direction,  must  have  turned  back  and  resumed  their  work 
from  a  different  point.  In  1880,  a  discovery  was  made  about  20  feet  above 
the  exit  of  the  water  into  the  pool,  of  an  inscription,  in  archaic  Hebrew,  re¬ 
cording  the  completion  of  the  tunnel.  This  inscription,  which  is  almost 
perfect,  has  been  thus  translated  by  Professor  Sayce:  “Behold  the  exca¬ 
vation!  Now,  this  has  been  the  history  of  the  excavation:  While  the 
workmen  were  still  lifting  up  the  axe,  each  toward  his  neighbor,  and  while 
three  cubits  still  remained  to  be  cut  through,  each  heard  the  voice  of  the 
other,  who  called  to  his  neighbor,  since  there  was  an  excess  in  the  rock  on 
the  right  hand,  and  on  the  left;  and  on  the  day  of  the  excavation  the 
workmen  struck,  each  to  meet  his  neighbor,  axe  against  axe,  and  then 
flowed  the  waters  from  the  spring  to  the  pool  for  1,200  cubits,  and  ....  of 
a  cubit  was  the  height  of  the  rock  over  the  heads  of  the  workmen.”  In 
this  inscription  no  names  are  given,  nor  any  other  data  bearing  directly  on 
the  date  of  the  work,  which  can,  therefore,  be  only  approximately  judged 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


from  the  form  of  the  Hebrew  characters.  These  are  of  the  most  ancient 
form.  They  cannot  be  later  than  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  and  they  may  date 
from  the  age  of  Solomon.  They  furnish  a  specimen  of  the  most  ancient 
Hebrew  writing,  in  the  general  form  of  the  Phoenician  alphabet,  known  to 
learned  men  from  the  Moabite  Stone  and  a  few  legends  on  seals.  But  the 
form  of  this  alphabet  is  even  older  than  that  of  the  Moabite  Stone,  and  so, 


POOL  OF  SILOAM. 


Dr.  Tristram  refers  the  inscription  to  a  period  probably  as  early  as  that  of 
Solomon. 

The  Arabs  call  the  Virgin’s  Spring  Ain  Umm  ed  Derej,  or  the  Eoun- 
tain  of  Steps,  for  the  reason  that,  in  order  to  reach  it,  one  must  descend  a 
flight  of  twenty-seven  steps,  each  of  which  is  ten  inches  high,  and  the  de¬ 
cline  is  steep.  The  water  is  not  palatable;  Dr.  Robinson  says  it  is,  at  once, 


334 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


sweet  and  brackish,  but  the  peculiar  taste  is  less  pronounced  when  the  flow 
of  water  is  full.  It  is  likely  that  the  taste  is  partly  due  to  drainage  water, 
which  flows  into  the  inner  source,  and  there  mingles  with  the  water  of  the 
spring.  Besides,  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  of  Silwan,  or  Siloam,  who 
dwell  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  narrow  valley,  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of 
Offence,  seem  to  be  at  pains  to  pollute  the  spring.  When  Captain  War¬ 
ren  was  passing  through  the  tunnel,  he  found  bits  of  cabbags  stalks  floating 
by  him,  and,  in  fact,  he  says,  “the  Virgin’s  Fount  is  used  as  a  sort  of  scullery 
for  the  Silwan  village,  the  refuse  thrown  there  being  carried  off  down  the 
passage  each  time  the  water  rises.”  Of  the  water,  Dr.  Thomson  says:  “I 
never  liked  it,  either  in  summer  or  in  winter,  always  thinking  that  its  smell 
was  suggestive  of  the  bath.  I  have  little  doubt  that  it  is  mingled  with  the 
water  used  for  Moslem  ablutions  and  bathings,  in  the  Mosques  of  Omar 
and  El  Aksa,  directly  above  the  fountain.  Besides,  I  have  rarely  visited  it 
without  finding  women  from  the  village  of  Kefr  Silwan  standing  in  it,  and 
sometimes  washing  clothes  upon  its  lower  steps,  as  they  do  at  the  Pool  of 
Siloam.  Altogether  it  is  a  deplorable  place;  but,  although  the  inhabitants 
of  Silwan  depend  entirely  upon  it,  the  inhabitants  (of  Jerusalem  do  not 
make  much  use  of  it.” 

If  Milton  had  known  more  of  the  topography  of  the  Holy  City,  as  it 
now  is,  he  might  have  hesitated  to  speak  so  poetically  of  the  subterranean 
stream  from  Ain  Sitti  Mariam  as 

“The  brook  that  flowed 
Fast  by  the  Oracle  of  God.” 

But  it  was  not  always  what  it  is  now.  There  was  a  time  when  not 
only  the  abundance,  but  the  purity  of  the  water  of  Jerusalem  was  carefully 
attended  to,  and  then  such  pollutions  as  are  now  witnessed  were  unknown. 
This  very  tunnel  is,  perhaps,  more  than  once  referred  to  by  the  sweet  sing¬ 
ers  of  Israel.  “There  is  a  (perennial)  river”  sings  the  Psalmist,  “the 
streams  (or  flowings)  whereof,  make  glad  the  City  of  God,  the  Holy  Place 
of  the  Tabernacle  of  the  Most  High.”  “All  my  springs  are  in  thee,”  says 
another  ode.  At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  a  golden  vessel  was  filled  at 
the  Pool  of  Siloam,  and  was  carried  up  to  the  Temple;  and  the  rabbis 
say,  that  “He  who  has  not  seen  the  joy  of  the  water-drawing  has  never 
seen  joy  in  his  life,”  so  great  was  the  rejoicing  at  the  time  of  this  simple 


JERUSALEM. 

SHEWING  THE  VARIOUS  THEORIES  AS  TO  THE  WALLS> 

| st  OR  OLD  WA LI _ — —  —  — . 

2".°  WALL - - - - 

3SP  ACRIPPA’S  WALL . . 

□  90  CALLED  TOMBS  OF.  the  KINGS 


336 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


ceremony.  Isaiah  doubtless  alludes  to  it,  when  he  says,  “With  joy  shall 
ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation.” 

Just  below  the  junction  of  the  Hinnom  and  Kedron  Valleys,  and  six 
hundred  yards  below  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  is  a  well  called  Bir  Eyoub,  or 
Job’s  Well,  but  how  the  name  can  have  originated  is  hard  to  guess,  since 
it  has  no  connection,  whatever,  with  the  patriarch  Job.  The  shaft  of  the 
well  is  sunk  for  125  feet  through  the  solid  rock,  and  Sir  C.  Warren  has 
discovered  a  hidden  channel  underground,  by  which  water  was  brought  to 
Job’s  Well  from  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  Below  the  well  there  must  have  been 
another  channel;  for  Sir  C.  Warren,  on  opening  a  spring  500  feet 
further  down  the  valley,  suddenly,  at  a  depth  of  twelve  feet,  rolled  away  a 
stone  which  concealed  a  staircase,  twenty-five  feet  deep,  leading  to  a  pas¬ 
sage  which  runs  both  north  and  south.  The  object  of  so  extensive  a  sys¬ 
tem  of  water-courses,  undoubtedly  was  to  secure  to  the  city  an  abundance 
of  water,  while  leaving  no  supply  for  besiegers  around  the  walls.  Thus,  as 
the  historian  says,  Jerusalem  was  emphatically  “a  city  full  of  water  within, 
but  very  thirsty  without.”  At  present  there  is  no  connection  between  the 
Pool  of  Siloam  and  Job’s  Well,  as  is  proved  by  the  fact,  that  the  water  is 
pure  and  sweet,  having  no  likeness  to  that  of  Siloam  and  the  Virgin’s 
Fount.  The  quantity  of  water  in  Job’s  Well  varies  greatly  in  height,  sel¬ 
dom  drying  up  altogether,  and  sometimes  overflowing  and  gushing  out  like 
a  mill-stream.  Dr.  Thomson  says  that  he  has  seen  the  whole  valley  alive 
with  people,  bathing  in  the  overflowing  water,  and  indulging  in  every  spe¬ 
cies  of  hilarity. 

Whether  Job’s  Well  or  the  Virgin’s  Fount  is  the  Fullers  Spring,  En- 
Rogcl ,  mentioned  (Josh.  xv:y)  as  the  boundary  line  between  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  has  been  much  disputed.  Positive  opinions  are  ex¬ 
pressed  by  competent  judges  on  both  sides.  It  is  certainly  against  Job’s 
Well  that  the  Fuller  s  Spring  was  a  spring  (En)  and  not  a  well  (Bir);  for 
Job’s  Well  is  a  well  and  not  a  spring. 

Since  the  sixteenth  century,  Job’s  Well  has  been  called  by  the  Frank 
Christians,  the  Spring  of  Nehemiah,  from  a  Jewish  tradition  that  the  sa¬ 
cred  fire  of  the  Temple  was  concealed  there  during  the  captivity,  until  it 
was  recovered  by  Nehemiah,  the  leader  of  the  returned  exiles. 

Within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  there  are  two  great  pools,  namely,  the 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


337 


Pool  of  Hezekiah  and  Birket  Israel,  the  traditional  Pool  of  Bethesda. 
The  Pool  of  Hezekiah  is  situated  at  a  little  distance,  somewhat  north 
of  east,  from  the  Jaffa  Gate,  and  southwest  from  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher,  midway  between  the  two.  It  is  supplied  from  the  Birket  Ma- 
milla,  by  an  underground  passage  so  constructed,  as  to  admit  of  some 
regulation  of  the  flow  of  water.  It  is  a  remarkable  work,  being  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe,  that  it  originally  extended  some  sixty  feet  further  toward 
the  north.  Its  average  width  is  about  one  hundred  and  forty  feet;  its 
depth  is  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet.  If  it  were  cleansed  and  kept  with  de¬ 
cency,  it  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  inhabitants.  As  it  is,  it  is  an  abomi¬ 
nation.  The  water  is  utterly  unfit  for  culinary  purposes,  and,  indeed,  the 
name  given  by  the  Arabs  to  the  pool  is  Birket  el  Harnmam ,  or  Pool  of  the 
Bath ,  otherwise  more  fully,  Birket  Harnmam  el- Batrak ,  the  Pool  of  the 
Bath  of  the  Patriarch,  because  its  waters  are  chiefly  used  for  filling  another 
reservoir  called  Harnmam  el  Batrak ,  or  the  Patriarch’s  Bath,  not  many 
yards  to  the  east. 

It  seems  to  be  generally  conceded,  that  this  pool  is  rightly  named 
from  King  Hezekiah.  In  2  Chron,  xxxii:  2-4).  we  read  that  “when  Heze¬ 
kiah  saw  that  Sennacherib  was  come,  and  that  he  was  purposed  to  fight 
against  Jerusalem,  he  took  counsel  with  his  princes  and  his  mighty  men 
to  stop  the  waters  of  the  fountains  which  were  without  the  city;  and  they 
did  help  him.  So  there  was  gathered  much  people  together,  who  stopped 
all  the  fountains,  and  the  brook  that  ran  through  the  midst  of  the  land, 
saying,  AVhy  should  the  kings  of  Assyria  come  and  find  much  water?’” 
We  also  read  (verse  30)  that  “this  same  Hezekiah  stopped  the  upper 
water-course  of  Gihon,  and  brought  it  straight  down  to  the  west  side  of  the 
City  of  David;”  and  in  2  Kings  xx:  20,  we  read  that  “Hezekiah  made  a 
pool,  and  a  conduit,  and  brought  water  into  the  city.”  Taking  these  pas¬ 
sages  together,  there  seems  to  be  little,  if  any,  reason  to  doubt  that  this 
pool,  which  is  within  the  city,  and  which  draws  its  water  from  the  Upper 
Pool  of  Gihon  on  the  west  side  of  Jerusalem,  is  the  very  work  of  Heze¬ 
kiah  remaining  to  this  day.  It  is  also,  in  all  probability,  the  Pool  Amyg- 
dalon,  of  which  Josephus  says,  that  it  was  situated  near  the  monument  of 
the.  High  Priest  John. 


338 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


Outside  of  the  Temple  Area,  and  at  the  east  end  of  its  northern  wall, 
is  a  pool,  or  rather,  since  it  rarely  now  contains  water,  there  was  once  a 
pool,  extending  for  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  east  and  west  along  the 
wall.  It  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  wide,  and  at  present,  seventy  feet 
deep  to  the  rubbish  with  which  the  bottom  has  been  filled.  It  is  called 
by  the  Arabs  Birket  Isr ail,  or  the  Pool  of  Israel,  and  it  is  the  traditional 
Pool  of  Bethesda.  The  explorations  made  in  connection  with  this  impor¬ 
tant  work  have  satisfactorily  proved  that  the  Temple  area  was  originally 
an  isolated  crag  of  no  great  extent,  and  that  along  its  northern  side  ran  a 
ravine  which  separated  Mount  Moriah  from  what  was  afterward  Bezetha. 
The  so-called  Pool  of  Bethesda  is  formed,  in  part,  of  that  ravine,  and  it 
may  have  been  part  of  a  more  extensive  fosse  extending  all  along  the  north¬ 
ern  end  of  the  Temple  Mount.  At  the  southwest  corner  it  has  a  system  of 
vaults  extending  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  under  the  modern 
houses  of  the  city,  so  that  the  extreme  length  of  the  whole  pool  is  about 
five  hundred  feet. 

Roman  Catholic  tradition  maintains  that  this  is  Bethesda,  because  it 
likewise  asserts  that  St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  which  is  directly  east  of  the 
northern  corner  of  the  pool,  is  the  ancient  sheep-gate,  but  neither  of  those 
traditions  is  of  any  value,  and  Birket  Israil  can  hardly  have  been  an  inter¬ 
mitting  fountain  like  the  Bethesda  of  the  Gospels;  which  was  periodically 
“troubled”  by  an  angel  (Johnv:  1-16).  The  true  Bethesda  is  supposed  by 
some  to  be  a  well  called  Hammam  esh-Shifa ,  or  the  Healing  Bath,  which 
is  still  extolled  for  its  sanative  qualities,  and  is  situated  outside  of  the 
Haram  enclosure  or  Temple  area,  and  nearly  west  of  the  Mosque  of 
Omar.  But  as  it  is  not  a  spring,  and  therefore  not  intermittent,  it  does 
not  correspond  to  the  Bethesda  of  the  New  Testament  very  much  better 
than  Birket  Israil. 

After  this  brief,  but  carefully  studied,  account  of  Ancient  Jerusalem 
given  in  this  and  the  previous  chapter,  it  is  discouraging  to  be  obliged  to 
confess  that  only  the  broader  outlines  of  the  sketch  can  be  affirmed  to  be 
certainly  accurate.  Dr.  Thomson  amusingly  suggests  the  thought  of 
what  would  happen  if  the  topography  of  Jerusalem  and  its  environs  could 
be  submitted  to  a  conclave  composed  of  devout  padres,  learned  authors, 
and  intelligent  professors  from  England  and  America.  He  declares  that 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


339 


they  “would  scarcely  agree  upon  a  single  point;”  and  then  he  continues: 
“It  is  my  own  impression  that  no  ingenuity  or  research  can  recon¬ 
struct  this  city  as  our  Saviour  saw  it,  or  as  Josephus  describes  it.  No  man 
knows  the  line  of  the  eastern  and  southeastern  portions  of  the  first  wall, 
or  where  the  second  began,  or  how  it  ran  after  it  began,  or  where  the  third 
wall  commenced,  or  one  foot  of  its  circuit  afterward;  and  of  necessity  the 


POOL  OF  BETHESDA. 


locations  of  castles,  towers,  corners,  gates,  pools,  sepulchres,  etc.,  etc.,  de¬ 
pending  upon  supposed  starting-points  and  directions,  are  merely  hypo¬ 
thetical.  One  hypothesis  may  have  more  probability  than  another,  but 
all  must  share  the  uncertainty  which  hangs  over  the  data  assumed  by  the 
theorizers. 

“Leaving  speculations  and  their  results  to  take  care  ol  themselves, 
may  we  not  find  some  points  and  boundaries  about  which  there  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  ? 


340 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


“Certainly  there  are  such  outlines,  strongly  drawn  and  ineffaceable, 
which  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  we  have  the  Holy  City,  with  all  its 
interesting  localities,  before  us.  For  example,  this  mount  on  which  our 
cottage  stands  is  Olivet,  without  a  doubt;  the  deep  valley  at  its  base  is  the 
channel  of  the  Kedron;  that  broad  ravine  that  joins  it  from  the  west  at 
the  Well  of  Job  is  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  which  is  prolonged  northward 
and  then  westward  under  the  ordinary  name  of  the  Valley  of  Gihon. 
The  rocky  region  lying  in  between  the  valleys  is  the  platform  of  ancient 
Jerusalem — the  whole  of  it.  Within  these  limits  there  was  nothing  else, 
and  beyond  them  the  city  never  extended.  Thus  I  understand  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  Josephus  when  he  is  speaking  of  Jerusalem,  one  and  entire. 

“We  may  go  a  step  further  in  generalizing,  and  with  considerable  con¬ 
fidence.  The  platform  of  Jerusalem  is  divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts 
by  a  valley  which  commences  northwest  of  the  Damascus  Gate,  shallow 
and  broad  at  first,  but  deepening  rapidly  in  its  course  down  along  the 
Temple  area,  until  it  unites  with  the  Kedron  near'  the  Pool  of  Siloam. 
The  city  therefore  was  built  upon  two  ridges,  with  a  valley  between  them; 
and  these  grand  landmarks  are  perfectly  distinct  to  this  day.  The 
eastern  ridge  is  Mount  Moriah,  on  which  stood  the  Temple;  the  western  is 
Zion;  so-called;  and  the  valley  between  them  is  that  of  the  Tyropeon  or 
Cheesemongers.  These  ridges  are  nearly  parallel  with  each  ^  other,  but 
that  of  Zion  is  everywhere  the  highest  of  the  two;  that  is,  the  part  of  it 
without  the  present  south  wall  is  much  higher  than  Ophel,  which  is  over 
against  it;  the  Temple  area  is  lower  than  that  part  of  Zion  which  is  west 
of  it,  and  the  northwest  corner  of  the  city  overlooks  the  whole  of  the 
ridge  on  which  the  Temple  stood.  This  accords  with  the  express  and 
repeated  assertions  of  Josephus — who,  however  never  uses  the  word  Zion 
—that  the  hill  which  sustained  the  Upper  Market  Place,  of  the  Upper 
City,  was  much  the  highest  of  all.  The  houses  built  down  the  western 
slopes  of  Zion  everywhere  face  those  on  the  western  side  of  the  opposite 
ridge,  and  the  corresponding  rows  of  houses  meet  in  the  intervening 
valley,  just  as  Josephus  represents  them  to  have  done  in  his  day.  The 
historian  wrote  his  description  with  an  eye  to  Titus  and  the  Roman  army; 
and  I  cannot  doubt  that,  up  to  our  present  point  of  generalization,  we  have 
laid  down  the  outlines  of  Jerusalem  as  they  saw  and  conquered  it. 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM 


34i 


“If  we  now  proceed  from  generalities  to  particulars,  we  encounter 
obscurity  and  perplexing  difficulties  at  every  turn;  and  these  thicken 
around  us  just  in  proportion  as  we  descend  to  details  more  and  more 
minute.  For  example,  perhaps  all  the  planographists  of  the  Holy  City 
agree  that  the  lower  part  of  the  interior  valley  is  that  of  the  Cheese- 


NORTH  END  OF  HARAM  AREA. 


mongers;  but  higher  up,  where,  under  the  name  of  Tyropeon,  it  must 
define  the  supposed  position  of  a  certain  tower,  the  course  of  this  valley 
is  very  earnestly  contested.  And  thus,  too,  nearly  all  agree  that  the  bioad 
ridge  south  of  the  Jaffa  Gate  is  Mount  Zion;  but  some  maintain  that  it 
terminates  there  at  the  Tower  of  David,  while  others  believe  that  it  con¬ 
tinued  up  northward  to  the  Castle  of  Goliath,  and  even  beyond  it.  Some 


342 


ANCIENT  JERUSALEM. 


others  assume  that  the  Tyropeon  commences  at  the  Tower  of  David,  and 
descends  first  eastward  and  then  to  the  southeast,  under  the  Temple  area 
and  down  to  Siloam,  and  that  traces  of  such  a  valley  can  still  be  seen. 
Other  eyes  absolutely  fail  to  discover  it,  and  their  owners  say  that  the  rain 
from  heaven  and  the  theodolite  of  the  engineer  obstinately  refuse  to 
acknowledge  any  such  valley.  Some  place  Acra  north  of  Jaffa  Gate,  and 
others  northwest  of  the  Temple  area.  But  we  need  not  extend  the  list  of 
conflicting  theories  any  further,  for  it  includes  nearly  every  rod  of  the  entire 
city — the  line  of  every  wall,  the  position  of  every  castle,  the  name  of  every 
pool,  the  place  of  every  gate,  the  site  of  every  scene,  etc.  On  most  of 
these  questions  I  have  my  own  opinion,  but  to  state  and  defend  them 
would  be  a  most  wearisome  business,  and  as  useless  as  it  would  be 
endless.” 


CHAPTER 


XI. 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


The  Crowds  Departing  from  the  Passover — Jesus  Missed  by  His  Parents — The  Temple  Schools — The 
Rabbis — Jesus  Among  the  Doctors — The  Question  of  Mary — The  Significant  Reply — Return  to 
Nazareth — Youth  of  the  Baptist — Condition  of  the  Jewish  Mind  at  that  Time — Sects — Herodians 
— Pharisees — The  Essenes — Their  Discipline  and  Mode  of  Life — The  Wilderness  of  Judea- 
Meaning  of  Jeshimon — Description  of  the  Wilderness — John’s  Retirement  into  the  Wilderness — 
Christian  Hermits — Lauras  and  Monasteries — Monastery  of  St.  Saba — His  Life — The  Frank 
Mountain  of  Herodium — Valley  of  Urtas — Etam — Tekoah— The  Wise  Woman— Birthplace  of 
Amos — Ambusii  of  the  Maccabees — Wady  Khureitun — St.  Chariton — Cave  of  Adullam — Engedi 
— The  Fountain  of  Engedi — The  Grotto — Masada — Closing  Tragedy  of  the  Jewish  War. 

is  a  great  temptation  to  linger  in 
Jerusalem,  endeavoring  to  realize  the 
sacred  employments  of  the  Child 
Jesus  during  the  celebration  of  His 
first  passover,  to  trace  the  order  of 
the  services  of  the  Temple  in  which 
He  would  doubtless  be  engaged,  and 
to  gather  from  history  and  tradition 
the  names  of  the  distinguished  per¬ 
sons  He  may  have  seen,  or  with  whom. 
He  may  actually  have  come  in  con¬ 
tact.  These  things  he  beyond  the 
scope  of  this  work,  which  pretends, 
to  illustrate  the  beautiful  life  of 
Christ  only  in  its  relations  to  the  Beautiful  Land  in  which  He  wore  the  veil 
of  our  humanity.  Therefore,  a  single  incident  which  has  been  preserved 
for  us  in  the  gospels  can  alone  be  recorded  here. 

The  days  of  religious  occupation  were  over.  The  pilgrims  had  par¬ 
taken  of  the  passover  with  all  prescribed  formalities,  and  at  length  set  out 
on  their  return  to  Nazareth,  retracing  their  steps  backward  along  the  route 
we  have  already  described.  To  escape  the  great  heat  of  the  day,  they 
would  probably  set  out  at  night,  and  they  would  not  be  alone.  A  whole 

343 


344 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


caravan  of  pilgrims  would  be  crowding  the  road  at  the  same  time,  scatter¬ 
ing  to  their  dwellings  in  Northern  Judea,  Gilead  and  Galilee.  At  difficult 
and  narrow  parts  of  the  way,  the  confusion  would  be  bewildering.  Camels, 
asses  and  pilgrims  on  foot  would  be  thronged  together,  not  without  danger 
sometimes  of  the  weak  being  trampled  under  foot  by  the  crowd.  As  they 
advanced,  and  the  branching  roads  were  taken  by  one  party  after  another, 
the  press  would  become  less  confusing  and  less  dangerous,  but  all  would 
be  glad  to  reach  their  first  halting-place,  at  or  beyond  Khan  Hadrur,  the 
Inn  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  Families  which  had  become  separated  in  the 
confusion,  would  expect  to  be  reunited  at  the  appointed  place  of  rest;  but 
Joseph  and  Mary  were  distressed  to  find  that  Jesus  was  nowhere  in  the 
company,  either  of  themselves  or  of  their  friends.  He  had  been  clean  lost 
sight  of;  they  had  such  perfect  confidence  in  His  discretion,  that  they 
seem  not  to  have  inquired  about  Him  until  they  finished  the  first  stage 
of  their  journey.  Failing  to  find  Him,  and  having  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  He  had  gone  beyond  the  place  appointed  for  their  first  encampment, 
they  returned  in  great  anxiety  to  Jerusalem,  where  they  arrived  in  the 
afternoon  or  evening  of  the  second  day.  At  their  lodging-place  in  the  Holy 
City,  they  did  not  find  Jesus,  and  on  the  third  day  they  set  out  to  seek 
Him  in  the  courts  of  the  Temple. 

There  they  found  Him  in  one  of  the  Temple  schools,  adjoining  the 
Court  of  the  Gentiles,  where  it  was  customary  for  the  rabbis  to  instruct 
the  people,  and  especially  the  youths  of  Israel.  These  schools  are  a  char¬ 
acteristic  institution  of  the  times.  The  rabbi  sat  on  a  high  seat  or  dais, 
surrounded  by  his  pupils,  who  were  seated  on  the  ground,  studying  the  law 
and  asking  questions  of  the  rabbi.  Their  teacher  answered,  not  out  of  his 
own  thought,  but  according  to  rabbinical  tradition,  which  had  become  as 
sacred  as  the  law  itself.  The  students  were  not  all  children  by  any  means. 
The  school  of  a  celebrated  rabbi  was  sure  to  be  thronged  by  eager  hear¬ 
ers,  and  even  by  other  rabbis  who  desired  to  hear  their  illustrious  brother, 
and  were  glad  to  join  in  the  questioning  and  answering  which  were  the 
principal  exercises.  In  the  school  in  which  Jesus  was  found  it  is  likely  that 
many  rabbis  would  be  present,  because  many  of  them  would  be  in  the 
city  attending  the  Passover,  and  the  schools  would  afford  their  best  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  associating  with  each  other.  “The  gentle  Hillel,  the  Looser,”  says 


THE  WILDERNESS  OE  JUDEA. 


345 


Dr.  Geikie,  “  was  perhaps  then  alive,  and  may  possibly  have  been  among 
them.  The  harsh  and  strict  Shammai,  the  Binder,  his  old  rival,  had  been 
long  dead.  Hellel’s  son,  Rabban  Simeon,  and  even  his  greater  grandson, 
Gamaliel,  the  future  teacher  of  St.  Paul,  may  have  been  of  the  number, 
though  Gamaliel,  like  Jesus,  would  then  be  only  a  boy.  Hannan  or  Annas, 
son  of  Seth,  had  just  been  appointed  High  Priest,  but  did  not  likely  see 


JESUS  IN  THE  TEMPLE.  (LUKE  II!  46.) 


Him,  as  a  boy,  Whom  he  was  afterward  to  crucify.  Apart  from  the  bit¬ 
ter  hostility  between  the  priests  and  the  rabbis,  he  would  be  too  busy  with 
his  monopoly  of  doves  for  the  Temple,  to  care  for  the  discussions  of  the 
schools;  for  he  owned  the  dove-shops  on  Mount  Olivet,  and  sold  doves  for 
a  piece  of  gold,  though  the  law  had  chosen  them  as  offerings  suited  for  the 
poorest.’’  None  of  these  learned  men  knew  or  dreamed  who  He  was  Whom 
they  were  questioning  and  answering;  but  the  rabbis,  in  general,  cherished 


346 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


an  extraordinary  reverence  for  the  sayings  of  children.  They  were  accus¬ 
tomed  to  say  that  “the  Word  of  God,  out  of  the  mouths  of  children,  is  to 
be  received  as  from  the  mouth  of  the  Sanhedrin,  or  of  Moses,  or  of  the 
Blessed  God  Himself;”  and  yet  we  are  told  that  anything  like  forwardness 
in  boys  was  specially  distasteful  to  them.  We  may  understand,  then,  that 
the  unrecorded  speech  of  Jesus,  with  the  rabbis,  in  the  Temple  school, 
struck  them  at  once  by  its  modesty  and  its  wisdom.  There  are  good 
reasons  for  believing  that,  in  the  school  of  Nazareth,  He  had  learned  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  which  was  already  obsolete,  and  it  is  entirely  possible  that 
His. course  of  learning,  in  the  Jewish  sense  of  the  word,  had  been  liberal. 
Certain  it  is  that  He  was  well  read  in  the  Scriptures,  and,  Child  as  He  still 
was,  He  had  so  digested  their  contents  as  to  have  attracted  and  pleased  the 
rabbis  with  whom  he  was  that  day  conversing.  He  was  wiser  than  His 
teachers,  but  his  wisdom  charmed,  and  did  not  offend  them. 

Here,  then,  Joseph  and  Mary  found  Jesus,  and  Mary  was  the  first  to 
address  Him.  “My  Son,”  she  said,  “why  hast  thou  thus  treated  us?  Be¬ 
hold  thy  father  and  I  have  been  seeking  Thee  in  great  anxiety.”  It  was  in 
answer  to  this  address  that  the  first  recorded  words  of  Jesus  Christ  were 
spoken:  “Why  was  it  that  ye  sought  Me?"  he  asked,  as  though  they  ought 
to  have  had  no  doubt  where  they  would  find  Him.  “Did  ye  not  know  that 
/must  be  about  my  Father’s  business?”  We  may  suppose  that  Jesus  laid 
a  peculiar  emphasis  upon  the  pronouns  of  these  two  sentences.  Mary  and 
Joseph  knew  many  things  which  in  the  home  in  Nazareth  had  been  silently 
ignored,  and  had,  perhaps,  been  practically  forgotten.  Jesus  was  now  fast 
growing  out  of  childhood.  By  the  custom  of  His  nation  He  had  recently 
been  recognized  as  a  man.  It  was  no  longer  right  that  the  solemn  and 
marvellous  facts  of  His  birth  should  be  disregarded.  He  desired  to  recall 
those  facts  to  their  remembrance,  and  at  the  same  time  to  intimate  His  own 
knowledge  of  them.  So  He  asked,  “Did  ye  not  know  that  /  must  be  about 
my  Father’s  business?”  One  would  suppose  that  these  words  would  have 
pierced  them  like  a  sword;  but  the  force  of  habit  is  so  strong,  and  the 
Child  had  ever  been  so  submissive  to  them  that  they  did  not  understand 
the  gentle  intimation,  and  the  still  gentler  warning  He  had  conveyed  to 
them.  We  are  told  that  “they  understood  not  the  saying  which  He  spake 
unto  them.”  “Strange  and  mournful  commentary,”  says  Archdeacon  Far- 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


347 


rar,  “on  the  first  recorded  words  of  the  youthful  Saviour,  spoken  to  those 
who  were  nearest  and  deaiest  to  Him  on  earth!  Strange,  but  mournfully 
pathetic  of  all  his  life:  ‘He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by 
Him,  and  the  world  knew  Him  not.  He  came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own 
received  Him  not.’  ” 


But  though  no  one,  not  even  the  Blessed  Virgin,  knew  or  received 
Him  for  what  He  was,  He  had  come  to  know  Himself,  to  understand  why 


He  was  thus  sojourning  in  the  world  that  He  had  made,  and  He  declined 
nothing  belonging  to  his  mission.  After  this  single  intimation  of  his  sense 
of  a  peculiar  and  divine  relation  to  the  Father  of  all  men,  He  was  still 
content  to  fulfill  the  duty  of  a  child  to  his  earthly  parents.  In  all  sweet¬ 
ness  of  simplicity  and  childlike  obedience,  He  resumed  his  habitual  sub¬ 
missiveness.  “He  went  down  with  them,  and  came  to  Nazareth,  and  was 


348 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


subject  unto  them.”  There  in  the  cottage  home  on  the  hill-side  of  Naza¬ 
reth,  He  dwelt  in  silence  and  obscurity  for  eighteen  peaceful  years,  con¬ 
cerning  which,  we  know  absolutely  nothing. 

During  those  years  another  child  was  growing  up  to  manhood  in  a 
priestly  family  at  Hebron  or  Juttah,  near  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
Holy  Land.  John  was  six  months  older  than  Jesus,  and  although  we  know 
nothing  of  his  childhood  or  his  youth,  we  do  know  from  the  whole  course 
of  his  later  history  what  must  have  been  the  bent  of  his  spiritual  develop¬ 
ment.  At  the  time  of  his  birth  Israel  had  ceased  to  be  an  independent 
nation.  Its  throne  was  occupied  by  an  Idumean  vassal  of  Rome.  Some  of 
the  people  had  submitted  in  good  faith  to  the  conqueror,  and  saw  no  hope 
in  the  future  otherwise  than  by  cultivating  the  favor  of  the  Herods.  These 
Herodians  were  naturally  honored  and  employed  by  the  reigning  family, 
but  by  the  mass  of  their  own  people  they  were  regarded  as  traitors  to  God 
and  to  Israel.  In  the  excess  of  helpless  loyalty  the  body  of  the  people 
admired  and  praised  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees  which  practiced,  or  pretended, 
a  minuteness  in  their  observance  of  the  national  law  far  surpassing  the 
earlier  traditions  of  their  race.  Some  there  were,  who  cherished  the  hope 
of  a  successful  rebellion,  but  they  were  chiefly  to  be  found  among  the  law¬ 
less  and  dangerous  classes  of  the  provinces,  and  among  the  poor  who  had 
little  to  lose  except  their  lives,  and  who,  to  do  them  justice,  seem  to  have 
valued  their  lives  but  lightly.  There  were  others  to  whom  the  state  of 
their  country  seemed  to  be  utterly  hopeless,  and  who  looked  for  nothing 
larger  than  their  own  personal  salvation  through  a  rigor  of  legal  observance 
which  surpassed  that  of  the  Pharisees  themselves.  The  Essenes,  as  they 
were  called,  in  their  anxiety  to  escape  every  occasion  of  ceremonial  un¬ 
cleanness,  forsook  the  ordinary  habitations  of  men,  and  either  singly,  or 
more  frequently  in  colonies,  betook  themselves  to  the  wilderness  of  Judea. 
There,  in  caves  of  the  earth,  or  in  rude  habitations  reared  for  their  use, 
they  dwelt  apart,  and  though  the  colonists  did  not  invariably  renounce 
marriage,  even  their  family  lives  were  thoroughly  ascetic.  Solitary  anchor¬ 
ites  lived  on  the  scanty  herbs  of  the  hill-side,  and  secured  themselves 
against  defilement,  even  from  nature,  by  bathing  twice  and  thrice  a  day. 
The  colonists  lived  under  strict  rules,  and  were  extremely  and  punctiliously 
regular  in  their  times  of  bathing  and  changing  their  apparel.  Throughout 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


349 


the  day  they  labored  in  the  field,  caring  for  their  cattle  and  bees,  and  so 
providing  for  their  own  maintenance  while  avoiding  the  necessity  of  trad¬ 
ing  with  others.  Coined  money  they  would  hardly  touch,  because  it  bore 
an  image,  in  violation,  as  they  thought,  of  the  Second  Commandment. 
They  admitted  no  uninitiated  person  to  their  company,  lest  he  might  bring 
defilement  upon  them.  Their  novices  were  not  accounted  clean  until  after 


“HIS  NAME  IS  JOHN.”  (LUKE  i:  63.) 


a  three  years’  probation,  during  which  they  were  required  to  practice  all 
the  austerities  of  the  initiated.  The  Sabbath,  of  course,  was  strictly  ob¬ 
served,  and  the  Scriptures  were  constantly  studied.  That  these  men  were 
sincerely  devout  there  can  be  no  questin,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
their  lives  were  more  than  negatively  virtuous.  At  then:  admission  to  the 
sect,  they  promised  “that  they  would  honor  God,  that  they  would  be  right¬ 
eous  toward  men,  doing  no  wrong  to  any  man;  that  they  would  hate  evil 


350 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


and  do  good;  that  they  would  be  faithful  to  all  men,  and  especially  to  those 
in  authority;  that  they  would  speak  the  truth  and  expose  falsehood  and 
that  they  would  be  honest  men,  neither  committing  direct  theft  nor  taking 
unrighteous  gain.”  Their  property  was  held  in  common;  slavery  was  for¬ 
bidden  among  them;  they  took  no  oaths  except  the  oath  of  their  initiation; 
they  abjured  and  abhorred  war;  and  they  renounced  animal  food  because 
the  law  said,  “Thou  shalt  not  kill.”  They  did  not  seek  to  enrich  their  com¬ 
munities  by  means  of  trade,  and  did  not  trade  at  all,  except  so  far  as  was 
necessary  to  supply  their  frugal  wants,  and  that  they  did  by  exchange, 
not  by  money  purchase  or  sale.  The  weakness  of  the  Essenes  consisted  in 
this,  that  they  considered  the  moral  and  the  ceremonial  law  to  be  equally 
important,  so  that  the  least  failure  to  obey  a  ceremonial  requirement  seemed 
to  them  to  be  as  grave  a  fault  as  to  commit  a  crime.  Outside  of  their 
daily  labor  their  lives  were  one  long  continued  series  of  monotonous  obser¬ 
vances,  in  which  they  outdid  the  most  rigorous  of  the  Pharisees. 

The  Essenes  were  scattered  through  the  eastern  part  of  the  Wilder¬ 
ness  of  Judea ,  which  was  properly  called  Jeshimon — The  Solitude.  In  Holy 
Scripture  the  word  wilderness  does  not  always  mean  a  desert.  In  our 
English  version  it  stands  as  the  representative  of  no  less  than  five 
different  Hebrew  words,  and  often  signifies  a  pastoral  plain  over  which  the 
migratory  shepherds  were  wont  to  lead  their  flocks  from  place  to  place,  so 
that  they  might  always  be  in  “pastures  new.”  It  was  in  such  “pastures  of 
the  wilderness”  that  the  patriarchs  spent  their  lives,  and  in  the  same  pas¬ 
tures  the  Arabs  now  feed  their  flocks.  But  no  such  signification  can  be 
applied  to  the  gloomy  and  dreary  region  of  Jeshimon,  the  Solitude  of 
Judea.  It  extends  southward  from  Jericho  along  the  western  side  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  with  an  average  width  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  miles,  and 
just  beyond  its  western  boundary  lie  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem  and  Hebron. 
It  is  full  of  white,  steep,  rugged  ridges,  which  are  seamed  with  the  courses 
of  innumerable  winter  torrents  and  between  many  of  them  lie  broad,  flat 
valleys  of  soft,  white  marl,  strewn  with  flints  and  having  a  pebbly  torrent- 
bed  in  the  middle.  There  are  no  trees;  hardly  a  shrub  is  to  be  seen. 
The  valleys  are  like  the  dry  basin  of  a  former  sea,  scoured  by  the  rains 
and  washed  down  in  places  to  the  hard  foundation  of  metamorphic  lime¬ 
stone  which  underlies  the  district  and  forms  precipices  2,000  feet  high*, 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA.  351 

overhanging  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Such,  in  substance,  is  the 
description  of  Captain  Conder,  taking  his  view  of  the  wilderness  nine 
miles  south  of  Bethlehem. 

Thirty  miles  south  of  Captain  Conder’s  point  of  view  Dr.  Tristram 
gives  a  similar  account.  He  says:  “For  two  hours  the  ascent  was  rocky 
and  slippery,  and  generally  we  had  to  lead  our  horses  till  we  entered  upon 


JOHN  PREACHING  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  (MATT.  Ill:  I.) 

the  South  Wilderness  of  Judea.  Our  course  lay  northwest,  and  for 
another  hour  nothing  could  surpass  the  mountain  range  in  repulsive  deso¬ 
lation.  Rocks  there  were,  great  and  small,  stones  loose  and  sharp,  but  no 
other  existing  thing.  Occasionally,  in  the  deep  depression  of  a  small 
ravine,  a  few  plants  of  salsola  or  retem  struggled  up,  but  this  was  all;  and 
we  only  saw  one  rockchat  and  two  desert  larks.  Almost  sudden  was  the 
transition  to  the  upland  wilderness,  the  ‘Negeb’  or  South  Country — a 


352 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA 


series  of  rolling  hills  clad  with  scanty  herbage  here  and  there,  especially  on 
their  northern  faces  ....  Nothing  can  be  barer  than  the  South  Country 
of  Judah.  It  is  neither  grand,  desolate,  nor  wild,  but  utter  barrenness — 
not  a  tree  nor  a  shrub,  but  scant  stunted  herbage,  covered  with  myriads  of 
white  snail  of  five  or  six  species,  which  afford  abundant  sustenance  to  the 
thousands  of  birds  which  inhabit  it.  It  is  the  very  country  for  camel 


MAR  SABA. 


browsing,  quite  unlike  any  we  had  hitherto  traversed,  but  sometimes 
reminding  one  of  the  best  parts  of  the  Sahara.” 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  dreary  wilderness,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  spots,  has  never  been  cultivated.  As  Dr.  Tristram  elsewhere  says, 
it  seems  to  have  been  always  destitute  of  trees,  and  except  an  old  fort 
here  and  there,  scarcely  any  traces  of  former  permanent  habitations  can  be 


CONVENT  OF  MAR  SABA, 


iiijl 


mSwStsskSi 


I  && 


timm 


mm 


r.  • 

•  V!”  ■ 


mmm 


'■  v^. 


t 


*  \  ,  - 


O 


* 


w 

I 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA.  355 

found.  Its  wadys,  or  valleys,  for  the  most  part  have  only  occasional  and 
scanty  supplies  of  water  running  eastward  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  near  its 
shore  cutting  to  amazing  depths  through  the  soft  limestone.  The  general 
slope  of  the  country  is  downward  toward  the  sea,  where  it  breaks  off  in 
precipitous  crags  beetling  above  the  waters  below.  Here  and  there,  how¬ 
ever,  at  the  mouths  of  the  wadys  and  ravines,  are  little  embayed  spots  of 


THE  IBEX. 

surpassing  fertility,  where  towns  have  formerly  stood.  Their  climate  is 
tropical,  as  the  surface  of  the  sea  is  depressed  1,300  feet  below  the  level  of 
the  Mediterranean  and  Red  Seas,  making  the  temperature  extremely 
warm;  so  that  the  products  of  these  spots,  animal  and  vegetable,  are  for 
the  most  part  entirely  different  from  the  indigenous  forms  of  life  in  the 
rest  of  the  country. 

When  John  the  Baptist  grew  to  manhood,  he  seems  to  have  had  no 
tendency  to  unite  with  any  of  the  sects  into  which  his  countrymen  and 


356  THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 

fellow-religionists  had  divided  themselves.  For  the  self-interested  and 
truckling  Herodians  he  could  have  no  respect,  but  for  the  poor  Jews  whose 
necessities  had  compelled  them  to  take  office  under  the  existing  govern¬ 
ment,  he  had  more  pity  than  reprobation.  With  the  wild  and  lawless 
agitators  who  avowed  their  desire  for  a  rebellion,  and  whose  professed 
patriotism  was  often  the  cloak  of  an  actual  life  of  robbery,  it  was  impossi¬ 
ble  that  he  should  sympathize.  From  the  Essenes  of  the  wilderness,  he 
had  perhaps  learned  to  hate  war,  and  to  pity  the  fate  even  of  the  Roman 
soldier,  but  he  had  not  been  attracted  by  the  superstitious  and  excessive 
ceremonialism  of  the  anchorites.  He  felt  that  the  regeneration  of  Israel,  if 
it  could  be  brought  about  at  all,  as  he  believed  it  could  and  would,  must 
be  first  and  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  an  inward  regeneration,  exhibited  in 
thorough  amendment  of  the  outward  conduct.  The  ceremonialism  of  the 
Essenes,  who  had  separated  from  mankind,  could  produce  no  such  refor¬ 
mation.  The  pretended  devotion  of  the  Pharisees,  which  was  as  thoroughly 
formal  as  that  of  the  Essenes  without  one  particle  of  their  inward  and  self- 
denying  piety,  could  bring  nothing  better  than  spiritual  dry-rot  upon  their 
disciples.  When  he  grew  up  to  manhood,  he  felt  like  so  many  other  great 
spiritual  leaders  of  the  orient,  that  he  must  retire  into  the  solitude  of  the 
wilderness,  and  there  meditate  upon  the  word  of  God  he  had  been  ap¬ 
pointed  to  deliver  to  the  men  of  his  generation.  Into  the  wilderness,  there¬ 
fore,  he  went,  clad  in  the  simple  and  coarse  garments  of  the  Bedouin,  his 
clothing  being  made  of  camel’s  hair,  and  his  loins  girded  with  a  belt  of 
sheepskin.  He  required  no  dainties.  His  food  was  of  the  coarsest.  Lo¬ 
custs  and  wild  honey,  with  a  drink  of  water  from  some  brook  or  spring, 
were  the  sole  fare  of  the  predestined  prophet.  Plow  long  he  dwelt  in  the 
wilderness  we  do  not  know;  but  the  scene  of  a  life  so  self-denying  and 
lofty,  and  of  meditations  so  austere  and  so  sublime,  is  well  worthy  of 
examination.  Over  a  part  of  it,  then,  we  may  quickly  glance. 

The  route  we  have  already  traced  from  Jericho  to  Jerusalem  is  really 
within  the  Judean  Wilderness;  and  if  we  leave  Jerusalem  by  the  way  of 
the  Kedron  Valley,  journeying  over  a  different  road  toward  the  southeast, 
we  come,  in  something  more  than  three  hours,  to  one  of  the  most  pictur¬ 
esque  of  all  the  many  monasteries  of  Palestine,  the  Convent  of  Mar  Saba. 
All  along  the  Kedron  Valley  may  be  seen  hermits’  caves  or  cells,  such  as 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA 


357 


we  have  already  observed  in  the  gorge  of  the  Brook  Cherith.  These,  or 
some  of  them,  may  have  been  the  dwellings  of  Essenes  in  the  time  of  our 
Saviour,  and  may  have  been  afterward  occupied  by  Christian  monks. 
When  the  hermit  life  came  to  be  organized,  the  monks  began  to  make  their 
cells  close  to  each  other,  and  to  live  in  communities  called  “lauras”  in  which, 
while  the  hermits  allowed  themselves  some  of  the  advantages  of  human 
companionship,  every  individual  hermit  was  free  to  lead  his  own  life  in  his 


MONKS  OF  MAR  SABA. 


own  way.  In  that  respect  the  lauras  differed  from  monasteries  where  the 
monks  formed  an  organized  society  under  the  rule  of  one  common  Superior. 
The  Monastery  of  St.  Saba  marks  the  gradual  change  of  the  laura  to  a 
monastery  or  cenobium.  It  is  composed  of  a  cluster  of  rock-hewn  cells 
opening  into  each  other,  both  laterally  and  perpendicularly,  like  swallows’ 
nests.  The  cells  are  constructed  upon  one  side  of  the  Kedron  Valley, 
where  the  walls  or  sides  of  the  gorge  rise  fronting  each  other  in  precipices 


358 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA 


■of  hundreds  of  feet  in  height.  “A  well  built  road,  guarded  by  a  strong 
stone  fence,  leads  one  high  up  the  west  side  of  the  chasm,  and  brings  the 
monastery  in  sight.  Its  lofty,  massive  towers  are  seen  clinging  to  the 
almost  plumb-line  sides  of  bare  rocks  rising  wildly  above,  and  sinking  be¬ 
neath  into  frightful  depths,  with  great  walls  of  rock,  hundreds  of  feet  up 
and  down,  forming  the  other  side  of  the  wady,  and  furnishing  the  only 
view  presented  to  the  monks  on  the  eastern  side.  Fearful  loneliness  and 
desolation  reign  around.  You  seek  in  vain  for  a  blade  or  leaf  of  green  to 


RUINS  OF  TEKOAH. 


relieve  the  baiienness  of  the  shattered  and  weather-beaten  rocks.  In 
summer,  the  heat  reflected  from  the  naked  precipices  is  almost  unendura¬ 
ble,  and  in  winter  the  rams  stream  in  torrents  from  the  heights,  checked 
by  no  soil  or  herbage.  In  front  of  the  convent  are  five  immense  buttresses 
supporting  the  ledge  on  which  the  monastery  stands,  and  over  the  giddy 
height  of  the  chasm  the  monks  have  put  out  frail  balconies  which  seem 
hardly  strong  enough  to  sustain  the  weight  of  a  human  body.  The 
entrance  to  the  convent  is  from  above,  of  course,  where  the  approach  is 
guarded  by  a  strong  tower.  Ladies  and  Arabs  are  not  admitted,  but  men 


JEBEL  FUREIDIS  (FRANK  MOUNTAIN.) 

where  they  may  cook  his  provisions.  The  view  from  the  terrace  on  a 
moonlit  night  is  said  to  be  almost  fearfully  impressive,  and  by  daylight  it 
is  touching  to  see  how  the  monks  have  availed  themselves  of  every  inch  of 
space  for  the  making  of  terraces  and  miniature  gardens.  The  sun  beats 
so  fiercely  from  the  opposite  precipice,  that  the  figs  ripen  much  earlier  here 
than  at  Jerusalem,  and  there  is  a  solitary  palm-tree  which  the  monks 
regard  with  peculiar  veneration,  as  they  believe  it  to  have  been  planted  by 
their  founder,  St.  Saba. 

St.  Saba  was  a  nobleman  of  Cappadocia,  born  in  A.D.  439.  While 
still  a  child,  he  was  taken  to  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  and  was  there  edu¬ 
cated  in  a  monastery.  So  much  was  he  fascinated  by  the  monastic  life 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


359 


bringing  proper  introductions  are  entertained  with  humble  hospitality.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  there  are  drawbacks  to  its  enjoyment.  Once 
admitted  to  the  tower,  the  traveler  descends  about  fifty  steps  to  a  second 
entrance;  thence,  by  another  stairway  to  a  paved  court;  and  thence  again, 
by  a  third  descent,  to  the  guest-chamber,  where  he  will  find  divans  for  his 
accommodation.  If  he  occupies  one  of  them,  he  will  not  sleep  alone;  as 
they  are  generally  infested  with  vermin.  The  monks  will  furnish  him  with 
bread  and  wine,  and  if  he  is  attended  by  servants,  he  will  find  a  kitchen 


.360 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


that  at  fifteen. years  of  age  he  refused  to  quit  it,  renounced  his  inheritance, 
and  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  went  to  Jerusalem  with  the  purpose  of  adopt¬ 
ing  the  life  of  a  monk.  For  that  purpose  he  applied  for  admission  to 
Euthymius,  the  abbot  of  a  monastery,  but  was  rejected  on  account  of  his 
youth.  Returning  to  Egypt,  he  was  urged  by  his  parents  to  abandon  his 
project,  but  told  them  that  “no  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough  and 
looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God.”  At  forty-five  he  betook  him¬ 
self  to  the  Kedron  Valley,  and  there, 
with  Euthymius,  he  began  to  found 
the  laura  which  still  bears  his  name, 
and  organized  it  as  a  monastery 
under  the  rule  of  St.  Basil.  In  the 
stormy  years  that  followed,  he  was 
a  resolute  maintainer  of  orthodoxy 
against  the  monophysite  heresy, 
and  he  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity 
at  ninety  years  of  age.  Since  his 
death,  his  monastery  has  continued 
to  exist,  though  it  has  been  repeat¬ 
edly  plundered  by  invaders  and 
marauders.  Even  in  the  present 
century,  it  has  been  twice  pillaged, 
first  in  1832,  and  again  in  1834.  In 
1840,  it  was  restored,  and  enlarged 
by  the  Russian  government.  It  is 
now  a  favorite  resort  of  pilgrims 
returning  to  Jerusalem  from  the 
Jordan.  It  is  a  singular  survival  of  a  mode  of  life  which  has  been  followed 
by  men  of  strong  religious  tendencies,  not  only  under  Christian  training, 
but  so  far  back  as  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  and  before. 

From  Solomon’s  Pools  there  runs  in  a  southeasterly  direction  to  the 
Dead  Sea  a  wady  which,  near  the  pools,  is  called  Wady  Khureitun,  and 
near  the  sea,  is  called  Wady  Td  amir  ah.  In  this  wady  are  several  places 
of  interest —  Urtas ,  or  Etham ,  Tequa  or  Tekoa ,  Mugharat  or  Khureitun ,  and 
the  traditional  Cave  of  Adullam.  A  mile  north  of  Wady  Khureitun,  four 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  CAVE  OF  ADULLAM. 


-  ,jrr- 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA.  361 

miles  southwest  of  Bethlehem,  is  Herodium,  the  modern  Jebcl  Ferdis ,  com¬ 
monly  called  Frank  Mountain.  We  shall  begin  with  Herodium. 

It  was  at  this  spot  that  Herod  defeated  the  party  of  Antigonus,  and 
erected  a  fortress  of  great  magnificence.  The  natural  hill  rises  six  hun¬ 
dred  feet  above  the  plain  below,  and  it  is  said  that  Herod  raised  it  still 
higher.  It  now  presents  the  appearance  of  a  huge  cone,  from  which  the 
top  has  been  cut  off.  On  the  summit,  and  within  the  walls  of  the  fortress 
Herod  provided  for  himself  a  mag¬ 
nificent  palace.  The  only  way  of 
access  to  the  level  of  the  fortress, 
was  by  a  superb  stairway  of  hewn 
stone.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  were 
palaces  for  Herod  and  his  friends,  and 
the  surrounding  plain  was  laid  out  > 

in  a  beautiful  town,  built  in  the  Ro-  » 

o 

man  style  and  ornamented  with  o 
gardens.  From  the  beauty  of  these  h 
gardens,  watered  by  means  of  aque-  w 
ducts,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  o 
to  be  seen,  Herodium  took  the  name  ~ 
of  Paradise ,  which  still  survives  in 
the  modern  name  of  El  Ferdis  (or 
Fureidis').  Its  other  name  of  the 
Frank  Mountain ,  is  derived  from  a 
spurious  tradition,  that  the  Frankish 
Crusaders  held  possession  of  this 
castle  for  forty  years  after  Jerusalem  had  been  wrested  from  them. 
The  view  from  Frank  Mountain  is  exceedingly  interesting.  All  around, 
it  is  true,  are  but  bare  and  wild  uplands,  without  a  tree  to  relieve  the 
deadness  of  the  scene;  but  to  the  eastward  lies  the  Salt  Sea  far  below, 
and  beyond  that  rise  the  mountains  of  Moab,  while  to  the  northwest  lies 
Bethlehem  on  its  mountain  seat,  with  the  Shepherd’s  Plain  lying  between. 
On  that  “wonderful  night”  when  the  angels’  song  was  raised  above  the 
humble  shepherds,  and  “glory  shone  around”  the  heavenly  messengers  who 
announced  the  coming  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  it  is  probable  that  lights 


362 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


were  gleaming  far  too  brightly  in  the  halls  of  Herod,  for  the  revelers  to 
think  of  looking  out  into  the  night  where  heaven  was  greeting  earth  with 
new  light  and  with  songs  of  joy. 

In  Wady  Khureitun,  and  only  a  mile  and  a  quarter  below  the  Pools  of 
Solomon,  is  the  Valley  of  Urtas ,  doubtless  the  ancient  Etam,  of  which  some 
ruins  still  remain.  Etam  was  fortified  by  Rehoboam,  but  the  valley  is  more 
interesting  as  the  site  of  the  famous  gardens  of  King  Solomon,  and  because 
it  is  believed  to  have  been  part  of  the  patrimony  of  his  father  David. 
Many  evidences  of  former  wealth,  refinement  and  luxury  have  been  ex¬ 
humed  at  Urtas,  notably  some  superb  marble  baths,  built  in  the  Jewish 
fashion,  but  richly  carved  in  the  style  of  the  Egyptians.  They  probably 
belonged  to  Solomon’s  summer-house,  but  they  may  have  been  restored 
by  Herod,  as  the  capitals  of  some  of  the  pillars  are  ornamented  with  the 
lotus  leaf  and  show  the  style  of  sculpture  that  is  found  at  Petra.  It  is 
interesting  to  know  that  the  Valley  of  Urtas  is  again  blooming  with  vege¬ 
tation  under  the  care  of  a  colony  of  Christian  Israelites  who  supply  the 
market  of  Jerusalem  with  fresh  vegetables. 

Five  miles  south  of  Etam,  and  covering  several  acres  of  the  summit 
of  a  long  and  gently  sloping  hill,  which,  at  its  highest  point,  is  2,397  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  are  the  ruins  of  Tekiia,  the  ancient 
Tekoa  (or  Tekoali).  They  consist  of  great  mounds  of  rubbish,  among  which 
there  are  remains  of  houses  of  Hebrew  construction,  built  of 
square  stones  which  are  partly  beveled.  The  most  conspicuous 
object  is  the  wreck  of  a  square  tower  or  fortress.  The  remains  of 
a  Greek  church  formerly  belonging  to  a  Greek  monastery,  can  also  be 
traced  and  a  font  of  limestone  so  fine  as  to  resemble  marble,  is  still  there. 
Tekoa  can  hardly  ever  have  been  a  walled  town,  and  although  Rehoboam 
is  said  (2  Chron.  xi:  6)  to  have  built  it  for  defense,  the  defense  probably  con¬ 
sisted  of  the  tower  or  fortress  of  which,  or  rather  of  some  similar  but  later 
structure,  the  wreck  still  exists.  The  surrounding  country  is  barren  in  the 
extreme  and  must  always  have  been  so,  though  it  affords  a  scanty  pasture 
to  the  flocks  of  some  rude  and  ill-conditioned  Arabs  who  also  cultivate 
a  few  scanty  patches  of  grain.  From  its  lofty  situation  Tekoa  was  prob¬ 
ably  a  signal  place  for  the  Tribe  of  Benjamin,  as  we  read  in  the  Prophet 


sycamore  fruit”  when  “the  Lord  took  him  as  he  followed  the  flock  and 
said,  Go  prophesy  unto  my  people  Israel”  (vir.14).  The  rugged  style  of 
the  shepherd-prophet  corresponds  with  his  early  training  and  the  wild 
scenes  in  which  his  youth  was  spent. 

It  was  to  Tekoa  that  the  three  surviving  brothers  of  Judas  Maccabeus, 
after  his  death,  fled  from  the  Syrian  general,  Bacchides,  in  battle  with 
whom  he  had  fallen  (Macc.  ix:33).  John  was  soon  afterward  cut  off  by  a 
force  of  Ammonites,  from  the  east  of  Jordan,  and  his  fate  was  terribly 
avenged  by  Simeon  and  Jonathan.  Learning  that  the  Ammonite  leader  was 
making  a  great  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  neighboring 
princes,  and  that  the  bridal  train  was  proceeding  on  its  way  from  Medeba, 
then  “they  remembered  John,  their  brother,  and  went  up  and  hid  them- 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA.  363 

Jeremiah:  “Oh!  ye  children  of  Benjamin,  blow  the  trumpet  in  Tekoa, 
for  evil  appeareth  out  of  the  north,  and  great  destruction”  (Jer.  vi:  1). 

Tekoa  is  mentioned  in  sacred  history  as  the  birth-place  of  the  wise 
woman  whom  Joab  employed  to  induce  King  David  to  recall  his  son 
Absalom,  when  that  rash  and  unhappy  prince  had  fled  after  the  murder  of 
his  brother  Amnon.  The  story,  as  told  in  2  Sam.  xiv,  is  extremely  inter¬ 
esting  and  is  thoroughly  oriental  in  every  feature.  Tekoa  is  still  more 
famous  as  the  birth-place  of  the  prophet  Amos.  He  was  “among  the  herd- 
men  of  Tekoa”  (Amos  i:  1),  and  was  himself  “a  herdman  and  gatherer  of 


BROOK  OF  EN-GEDI. 


S64 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA 


selves  under  the  covert  of  the  mountain.  While  they  lay  in  ambush,  they 
lifted  up  their  eyes  and  looked,  and,  behold,  there  was  much  ado.”  The 
princely  retinue  approached,  “and  the  bridegroom  came  forth,  and  his 
friends  and  brethren,  to  meet  them  with  drums,  and  instruments  of  music, 
and  many  weapons.”  The  hour  of  joyful  greeting  to  the  Ammonites  was 
the  hour  of  vengeance  to  the  Maccabees.  While  the  merry  meeting  was 

going  on,  Jonathan  and  his 
companions  leaped  from 
their  hiding-place  and  made 
such  slaughter  that  “many 
fell  down  dead,  and  the 
remnant  fled  into  the  moun¬ 
tain,  and  they  took  all  their 
spoils.  Thus  was  the  mar¬ 
riage  turned  into  mourning, 
and  the  noise  of  melody  into 
lamentation.  So,  when  they 
had  avenged,  fully,  the 
blood  of  their  brother,  they 
turned  again”  (i  Macc. 
ix:34‘42-) 

The  Wady  Khureitun 
runs  in  a  southeasterly  di¬ 
rection  from  the  Valley  of 
Urtas  to  the  Dead  Sea.  It 
takes  its  name  from  St. 
Chariton,  a  hermit  of  great 
sanctity,  who  established  a 
laura  in  that  wady,  and  died  A.  D.  410.  About  five  miles  from  Urtas, 
and  midway  between  the  Frank  Mountain  and  Tekoa,  are  the  village 
of  Khureitun  and  the  traditional  Cave  of  Adullam ,  to  which,  when 
persecuted  by  Saul,  David  resorted,  and  gathered  a  troop  of  about 
four  hundred  outlaws  (1  Sam.  xxii:i,  2).  It  was  while  there  that  he 
called  out,  with  longing,  “Oh  that  one  would  give  me  of  the  water  of  the 
well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate”  (1  Chron.  xi:i7).  At  the  village 


EN-GEDI  FROM  THE  SOUTH. 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA.  365 

of  Khureitun,  the  wady  narrows  to  a  deep  and  precipitous  gorge,  which  is 
rather  a  chasm  than  a  wady.  On  the  north  side  is  the  spring  of  Khureitun. 
Near  the  crest  of  the  northern  side,  is  the  ruin  of  a  tower,  once  square,  and 
above  and  below  the  tower,  clinging  to  the  side  of  the  gorge,  and  over¬ 
hanging  its  precipitous  steep,  are  the  hovels  of  the  village.  The  cave  lies 
below,  and  the  approach  to  it  is  by  a  narrow  ledge,  obstructed  by  fallen 


SAUL  AND  DAVID  IN  THE  CAVE  OF  EN-GEDI.  (i  SAM.  XXIV:  4.) 

rocks.  One  of  the  entrances  leads  by  a  short  passage  to  a  vast  chamber 
1 10  feet  long,  by  30  wide  and  30  or  40  high;  from  which  other  passages 
lead  to  other  chambers  of  smaller  dimensions.  The  passages  are  so 
numerous,  and  so  intricate  in  their  windings,  as  to  form  a  natural  labyrinth 
which  has  never  been  fully  explored,  and  which  it  is  not  safe  for  the  traveler 
to  enter  without  a  guide.  It  is  hazardous  to  make  any  extensive  explora¬ 
tion,  even  with  one,  unless  he  take  the  precaution  to  mark  his  course  by 


366 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


unwinding  a  string,  or  thread,  as  he  goes.  Under  the  feet  the  ground  gives 
a  hollow  sound,  showing  that  there  are  other  caves  underneath.  Some  of 
these  are  reached  by  descending  passages,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  all 
of  them  are  known.  The  passages  are  of  different  dimensions,  some  being 
sufficiently  wide  and  lofty  for  convenience,  and  others  so  low  that  the  ex¬ 
plorer  is  obliged  to  stoop,  or  even  to  crawl  on  his  hands  and  knees.  The 
whole  cave,  or  combination  of  caves,  is  haunted  by  innumerable  bats,  so 
that  the  visitor  is  obliged  to  carry  his  light  in  a  strong  lantern,  or  it  would 
immediately  be  extinguished  by  the  frightened  creatures  which  fly  wildly 
against  him  at  every  step.  In  summer  the  cave  is  infested  by  thousands 
of  scorpions,  also.  On  account  of  these  pests,  some  writers  believe  that 
the  cave  could  never  have  been  habitable,  and  that  it  cannot,  therefore,  be 
the  cave  m  which  David  took  refuge,  with  four  hundred  men.  On  topo¬ 
graphical  grounds,  other  writers  are  of  the  same  opinion.  Dr.  Tristram 
declares  that  there  is  “no  authority”  for  the  tradition  which  identifies  the 
Cave  of  Khureitun  with  the  Cave  of  Adullam.  The  latter  he  holds  to  have 
been  west  of  Bethlehem,  on  the  frontier  of  Philistia,  in  the  Valley  of  Elah, 
and  at,  or  near,  the  modern  Ed  el  Miyeh ,  a  village  situated  in  the  low  hills 
between  Bethlehem  and  Gath,  with  an  abundance  of  water,  and  with  many 
habitable  caves  in  its  vicinity.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  Drake, 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  considers  the  Caves  of  Khureitun  to  be 
“admirably  adapted  for  the  stronghold  of  an  outlaw.”  In  this  opinion  Dr. 
Thomson  concurs.  He  considers,  moreover,  that  there  is  “no  good  reason 
to  disturb  the  tradition”  that  the  Cave  of  Khureitun  is  the  Cave  of  Adullam, 
though  he  admits  that  the  city  of  Adullam  was  undoubtedly  situated  in  the 
Plain  of  Philistia. 

On  the  western  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  twenty-three  miles  from 
its  northern  end,  is  a  spot  of  beauty  which  was  once  the  seat  of  one  of  the 
most  ancient  cities  of  the  world — Engedi,  now  Ain  Jidi ,  the  Spring  of 
the  Kid.  A  semi-circular  recess  has  been  scooped  out  of  the  mountains  of 
the  wilderness  to  the  extent  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half  each  way,  and  this 
oasis  is  occupied  with  acacias,  tamarisks  and  jujube  thorn-bushes.  The 
“clusters  of  camphire  in  the  vineyards  of  Engedi”  (Cant,  i:  14)  are  all 
withered  and  gone,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  straggling  plants  on  the 
verge  of  extinction.  Its  most  ancient  name  of  Edazezon-  Tamar t  “  The 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA 


367 


Pruning  of  the  Palin'  (2  Chron.  xx:  2)  and  the  poetical  allusion  to  the 
vine  imply  a  former  condition  of  culture  which  has  long  since  ceased  to 
exist;  but  in  its  prime  the  little  Plain  of  Engedi  was  a  fruitful  spot,  and 
the  slope  of  the  mountain  behind  it  was  covered  with  terraced  gardens  of 
which  vestiges  still  remain.  The  cause  of  all  this  beauty  and  fruitfulness 
was  the  spring  from  which  the  town  took  its  name,  and  the  stream  from 
which  may  still  be  seen  bounding  and  skipping  like  a  kid  from  rock  to  rock 
in  tiny  cataracts  until  it  reaches  the  plain.  Below  these  falls,  and  in  the 


MASADA. 


center  of  the  plain,  a  group  of  ruins  stands,  but  although  they  are  the 
remains  of  buildings  erected  with  large  square  blocks  of  stone,  it  is  now 
impossible  to  trace  their  outline. 

Engedi,  first  called  Hazezon  Tamar,  is  as  ancient  as  ancient  Hebron. 
It  was  a  city  when  Abraham  was  a  stranger  in  the  Promised  Land,  and 
hard  by  it  the  kings  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  with  their  allies,  attacked 
the  host  of  Chedorlaomer  as  it  was  returning  victorious  from  the  South 


368 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 


Country,  laden  with  spoils,  and  was  descending  to  the  Dead  Sea  by  the 
precipitous  path  which  is  still  used  by  the  Arabs  in  coming  from  the  lofty 
table-land  of  the  Wilderness  (Gen.  xiv.7).  It  was  in  the  caves  of  the 
precipice  of  Engedi  that  David  hid  when  “Saul  took  three  thousand 
chosen  men  out  of  all  Israel,  and  went  to  seek  him  upon  the  rocks  of  the 
wild-goats”  (1  Sam.  xxiv:  2).  It  was  in  one  of  those  caves  that  he  cut  off 
the  skirt  of  Saul’s  robe  which  he  afterward  showed  to  Saul  himself  in 
proof  that  he  might  have  slain  his  persecutor  (1  Sam.  xxiv:  1  - 1 5).  It  was 
up  those  same  steeps  that  the  forces  of  Ammon  and  Moab  clambered  on 
their  way  to  attack  Judah  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  it  was  not  far 
from  there  that  they  were  discomfited  by  the  interposition  of  God 
(2  Chron.  xx). 

The  fountain  of  Engedi  gushes  from  under  the  rock  at  a  temperature 
of  80  deg.  Fahrenheit.  Fresh-water  crabs,  some  small  shell-fish  and  a 
species  of  small  black  snail  are  found  in  its  basin.  Traffic  still  passes  by 
it,  as  droves  of  asses  laden  with  salt  are  driven  by  Arabs  from  the  south 
shore  of  the  Dead  Sea  to  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem.  “North  of  the 
fountain”  says  Dr.  Geikie,  “is  found  the  source  of  the  spring  seen  in  the 
vale  below;  a  very  delight  for  its  rich  luxuriance  of  all  kinds  of  foliage. 
In  long  past  ages,  a  spot  like  this,  utilized  as  it  would  be,  must  have  been 
thought  a  very  paradise  in  such  surroundings.  Could  it  be  that  this 
delightful  nook,  concealed  within  almost  impenetrable  jungle,  was  known 
to  David  when  he  hid  in  this  neighborhood?”  Sir  C.  Warner  thus 
describes  the  hidden  grotto  of  Engedi: — 

“A  fairy  grotto  of  vast  size  under  a  trickling  waterfall,  with  a  great 
flat  ledge  of  rock  overhanging  it,  dripping  with  stalactites  and  draped  with 
maiden-hair  fern.  Its  luxuriance  was  wonderful.  We  gathered  many 
tresses  of  its  fronds  a  yard  long,  and  yet  the  species  is  identical  with  our 
own.  The  sides  of  the  cliff,  as  well  as  the  edges  of  the  grotto,  were  clothed 
with  great  fig-trees,  hanging  about  and  springing  forth  in  every  direction, 
covered  with  luxuriant  foliage,  and  just  now  budding  into  fruit.  Mingled 
with  these  were  bushes  of  retem ,  with  its  lovely  branches  of  pendant  pink 
blossoms  waving  their  sweet  perfume  all  around.  To  reach  the  grotto,  we 
had  to  force  our  way  through  an  almost  impenetrable  canebrake,  with  bam¬ 
boos  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  long,  and  close  together.  No  pen  can  give 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA.  369 

an  adequate  description  of  the  beauties  of  this  hidden  grotto,  which  sur¬ 
passes  all  that  Claude  Lorraine  ever  dreamt.” 

Half-way  between  Engedi  and  the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  a 
tremendous  rock-cliff,  which  has  been  fairly  called  an  inland  Gibraltar, 
overhangs  the  sea.  This  is  Masada.  It  is  not  mentioned  in  Holy  Scripture, 
and  yet  it  is  famous  in  Jewish  history,  as  it  is  the  last  bloody  scene  of  the 
Jewish  struggle  with  Rome.  It  was  first  occupied  as  a  fortress  by  the 
Maccabees,  and  was  afterward  strengthened  and  made  impregnable  by 
Herod.  The  account  of  it  given  by  Josephus  is,  doubtless,  exaggerated, 


GATE  AT  MASADA. 


but  of  the  strength  of  its  position  and  fortifications  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
On  the  eastern  side,  fronting  the  sea,  and  also  on  the  north  and  south, 
storms  and  escalade  Were  out  of  the  question  from  the  natural  conforma¬ 
tion  of  the  cliffs.  It  was  only  on  the  west  side,  that  an  attack  could  be 
rationally  attempted,  and  there  Herod  erected  walls  of  enormous  height 
and  thickness,  and  at  the  narrowest  point  a  tower  which  might  alone  have 
been  deemed  impregnable.  Besides  these  works,  he  caused  an  immense 
cistern  to  be  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  so  provided  for  a  plentiful 
supply  of  water.  He  also  laid  in  an  enormous  store  of  arms  and  imple- 


370  THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA. 

ments  of  war,  and  built  a  palace  for  his  own  occupation  in  case  of  neces¬ 
sity. 

Sometime  before  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  Eleazer,  with  the  band  of 
robbers  whom  Josephus  calls  Siccarii,  gained  possession  of  Masada  by  a 
stratagem,  and,  after  Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  the  last  act  of  the  great 
tragedy  was  enacted  at  the  fortress  by  the  Dead  Sea.  Flavius  Silva 
besieged  Masada,  and  in  order  to  reduce  the  place  by  famine,  he  built 
works  around  it  which  can  be  traced  to  this  day.  When  famine  had  suffi¬ 
ciently  reduced  the  strength  of  the  besieged,  and  an  immense  causeway  had 
been  erected  on  the  west  side,  Flavius  proceeded  to  batter  the  wall,  and 
succeeded  in  making  a  breach;  but  the  Jews  immediately  erected  an  inner 
work  of  heavy  timbers,  and  filled  the  intervening  space  with  earth.  This 
the  Romans  set  on  fire;  but  on  the  following  morning,  when  they  were 
about  to  enter  through  the  breach,  they  saw  Herod’s  palace  in  flames,  and 
there  appeared  to  be  not  a  living  human  being  in  the  place.  At  length 
one  old  woman  and  five  children  emerged  from  a  vault,  and  told  a  tale 
which  made  even  the  Roman  soldiers  shudder.  Finding  further  resistance 
impossible,  the  starved  and  defeated  but  unconquered  Jews,  had  resolved 
not  to  be  taken  alive.  With  one  consent  they  decreed  their  own  death. 
Gathering  together  all  their  treasures  in  Herod’s  palace,  they  committed 
them  to  the  flames.  Then  they  “embraced  their  wives,  took  their  children 
in  their  arms,  gave  them  the  longest  parting  kisses,”  and  plunged  their 
daggers,  each  into  the  hearts  of  his  own  wife  and  little  ones.  Next,  they 
chose  ten  men  by  lot  to  be  the  executioners  of  all  the  rest,  and  one  by  one 
they  laid  their  necks  down  on  the  fatal  block.  When  all  had  been  dis¬ 
patched  except  the  ten,  one  of  the  ten  was  chosen  as  the  executioner  of  the 
other  nine,  and  having  finished  his  atrocious  task,  he  fell  bravely  on  his 
own  sword.  1  hus  nine  hundred  and  sixty  men,  women  and  children  per¬ 
ished.  Only  two  women  and  five  children,  who  were  overlooked,  survived 
to  tell  a  tale  unmatched  elsewhere  in  history. 

Canon  Tristram  describes  the  platform  of  the  stronghold  to  Masada, 
as  being  isolated  by  tremendous  chasms  on  all  sides,  of  oblong  shape  and 
widest  at  the  southern  end.  Its  length  is  about  1,800  feet,  and  its  width 
from  east  to  west  about  600  feet.  Its  height  above  the  level  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  Dr.  Tristram  found  to  be  2,200  feet,  though  a  more  general  computa- 


THE  WILDERNESS  OF  JUDEA 


37i 


tion  makes  it  from  1,200  to  1,500  feet.  “In  the  center  of  the  plateau  stands 
an  isolated  building.  It  measures  eighteen  yards  from  north  to  south,  and 
sixteen  from  east  to  west.  The  west  porch  is  five  yards  square,  the  nave 
ten  and  a  half  yards,  with  a  semicircular  apsis,  and  a  circular  arched  light  at 
each  end.  It  is  all  very  neatly  plastered  with  fine  cement,  fiat  pebbles,  and 


DEAD  SEA  NEAR  MASADA. 


fragments  of  pottery  in  mosaic  patterns.  Did  we  not  know  that  Masada 
has  no  history  after  its  capture  by  Silva,  this  chapel  would  certainly  be  set 
down  as  a  Crusading  ruin.”  Toward  the  south  end  of  the  plateau  are  ruins 
which  may  perhaps  indicate  the  site  of  Herod’s  palace,  though  they  do  not, 
assuredly,  correspond  with  the  exagerated  description  of  Josephus.  Beyond 
them  on  the  south,  the  platform  ends  in  a  tremendous  chasm. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


The  Message  of  John — The  Baptism  of  Christ — The  Gospel  of  Jesus — Visit  to  John  after  the  Tempta¬ 
tion — John’s  Loyal  Humility — Andrew,  Peter  and  Nathanael — The  Marriage  at  Cana — Kanet  el- 
Jelil — Gath-Hepher,  the  Birth  Place  of  Jonah — Kefr  Kenna,  the  Traditional  Cana — The  Water 
Jars  Preserved — Brothers  of  Jesus — Visit  to  Capernaum — Sea  of  Galilee — Gennesareth — Its  Ex¬ 
tent  and  Fertility — Called  Capernaum  by  Josephus — A  Critical  Difficulty  Resolved— Site  of  Ca¬ 
pernaum — Tell  Hum — Origin  of  the  Name — Ain  Mudawarah — Khan  Minyeh — Canon  Tristram 
on  the  Rival  Sites — Wadvs  of  Gennesareth — Ain  et-Tin — Bethsaida  of  Galilee — Ruins  at  Tell 
Hum — Chorazin — Safed — Sabbath  Superstitions — Giscala — Magdala — Wady  Hammam— Ain  el- 
Barideh — Dalmanutha — Dalhamia — Springs  of  Hammath — Tiberias -Founded  by  Herod  Anti' 
pas  partly  on  an  Ancient  Cemetery — Detested  by  the  Jews — Not  Visited  by  Jesus — Its  Ancient 
Splendor — Fortified  by  Josephus — Captured  by  the  Romans — Naval  Battle  of  Tarichoea — Seat  of 
the  Great  Sanhedrim — Composition  of  the  Mishna — St.  Jerome — Taken  by  the  Moslems — Modern 
Tiberias  Described — Its  Countless  Fleas — Kerak — Bethsaida  Julias— Feeding  of  the  Five  Thous¬ 
and — A  Critical  Difficulty  Removed — Plain  of  Batihah — Gergesa — Gamala— Aphek — Hippos — 
Southern  Shore  of  the  Lake — What  a  Railway  Would  Do — Associations  of  the  Lake  with  the 
Saviour. 


OHN  THE  BAPTIST  was  not  only  the  great¬ 
est  of  the  prophets;  he  was  the  chosen  fore¬ 
runner  of  Him  of  Whom  “all  the  prophets 
bear  witness.”  Yet  he  was  a  prophet  of 
that  inexorable  law  which,  St.  Paul  says, 
declares  all  men  to  be  lying  under  sen¬ 
tence  of  death.  The  Baptist  proclaimed 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  at  hand; 
but  to  him  the  coming  of  God’s  kingdom 
meant  the  coming  of  a  day  of  vengeance, 
when  the  axe  was  to  be  laid  at  the  root 


fountain  at  cana.  of  the  trees,  and  all  dead  trees,  with  all 

their  worthless  branches,  were  to  be  utterly  consumed.  His  cry  was,  “Flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come!” 

Most,  appropriate  to  such  a  message,  was  the  scene  of  the  Baptist’s 
labors.  He  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  lonely  and  desolate  Wilder¬ 
ness  of  Judea,  which  only  a  few  scattered  cells  and  villages  of  ascetic  Essenes 


372 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  373; 

appeared  to  claim  as  a  portion  of  the  habitable  earth.  It  lay  along  the 
Sea  of  Salt,  in  which  no  living  creature  moves,  and  which  the  common  in¬ 
stinct  of  mankind  has  called  the  Dead  Sea.  Under  the  waters  of  that  sea,, 
or  near  its  shore,  was  the  former  site  of  the  doomed  cities  of  the  plain,  the 
scene  of  a  tremendous  tragedy  of  fiery  vengeance.  On  the  northern 


END  OF  THE  TEMPTATION.  (MATT.  IV!  10.) 

boundary  of  the  desert  was  Jericho,  a  city  built  in  defiance  of  a  solemn 
curse,  and  behind  it  towered  a  mountain  haunted  by  evil  beasts  and  spirits, 
the  Mount  of  the  Temptation,  which,  even  in  its  outward  aspect,  is  so 
gloomy  and  forbidding  as  to  have  been  called  a  mountain  of  malediction. 
Such  was  the  theater  of  nature  in  which  the  Baptist  preached  the  last  word 
that  the  law  had  for  mankind.  At  the  last,  as  from  the  first,  that  word 
was,  “The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die!” 

No  part  of  God’s  Word  ever  contradicts  another,  however  different  it 


374 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


may  seem;  and  when  Jesus  came  to  preach  the  same  Kingdom  of  God 
which  John  preached,  He  did  not  contradict  the  message  of  the  Baptist. 
In  the  most  emphatic  way  He  set  the  seal  of  His  approval  to  the  message 
that  the  Baptist  had  delivered:  for  He,  Himself,  though  He  was  innocent 
of  all  sin,  went  down  from  Nazareth  to  Bethabara,  and  was  baptized  with 


WITNESS  OF  JOHN  TO  JESUS.  (JOHN  1:29.) 


John’s  baptism  of  repentance.  Jesus  had  joined  Himself  to  all  humanity, 
and  all  the  miseries  which  sin  has  brought  upon  our  race.  In  the  Gospel, 
as  under  the  law,  repentance  is  the  first  and  indispensable  condition  of  de¬ 
liverance  from  sin  and  its  consequences;  and,  therefore,  He  submitted  to 
a  baptism  of  repentance,  for  which  He  had  no  personal  need,  as  though 
He  wished  to  join  Himself  with  men  and  make  their  very  sins  His  own  that 
He  might  also  make  them  partakers  of  His  grace.  It  was  after  this  amaz¬ 
ing  proof  of  His  humility,  and  as  He  rose  from  the  baptismal  waters  of  the 
Jordan,  that  “the  heavens  were  opened  unto  Him,  and  He  saw  the  Spirit  of 


376 


BETHABARA.  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


God  descending  like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  Him.  And  lo,  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  “This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  Whom  I  am  well  pleased.” 
So  true  is  it,  even  of  the  Son  of  God,  that  “he  who  humbleth  himself  shall 
be  exalted!” 

Every  extraordinary  manifestation  of  grace  is  intended  to  be  applied 
in  some  great  work  or  in  some  great  necessity;  and  therefore  the  divine 
recognition  of  the  Sonship  of  Christ  was  immediately  followed  by  His 
mysterious  and  awful  temptation.  While  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  was  yet 
sounding  in  His  ear  Jesus  was  “led,”  according  to  St.  Matthew,  or  “driven,” 
according  to  St.  Luke,  by  the  same  “Spirit  into  the  wilderness,  to  be 
tempted  of  the  devil.”  There  in  the  gloomy  heights  of  Quarantania,  He 
remained  for  forty  days  among  the  wild  beasts,  fasting  from  food,  as  if  to 
try  the  utmost  depths  of  human  weakness,  before  His  struggle  with  the 
enemy  of  man.  Emerging  from  that  struggle,  fainting  yet  victorious, 
“angels  came  and  ministered  unto  Him.”  His  body  was  refreshed;  his 
soul  was  strengthened  by  victory  and  hope  for  the  tempted  world  which  He 
had  come  to  save;  and  Jesus  rose  up  in  the  consciousness  of  His  divine 
power  to  do  the  work  which  lay  before  Him. 

That  work  was  to  preach  the  same  kingdom  of  God  which  John  had 
preached,  and  yet  how  differently.  John  preached  a  kingdom  of  law  and 
retribution,  which  it  is;  but  Christ  preached  it  as  a  kingdom  of  love  and 
benediction,  which  it  is  still  more.  The  law  had  cried,  “The  soul  that  sinneth 
it  shall  die;”  Christ  said  in  more  gentle  tones,  “The  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life.”  The  issue  of  the  law  had  been  condemnation.  The  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  proclamation  of  grace.  Jesus  was  now  to  tell  men  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  in  them  and  among  them,  as  well  as  over  and  above  them, 
however  little  they  may  recognize  it;  that  the  spiritual  things  of  God  have 
their  beginnings  in  things  which  are  natural;  and  that  God’s  indwelling 
power  controls,  and  His  spirit  sanctifies,  all  lawful  human  societies  and 
operations.  The  desert  was  no  place  for  the  proclamation  of  such  a  Gos¬ 
pel.  Where  nature  was  most  joyous,  where  men  were  most  numerous,  and 
where  their  occupations  were  most  varied,  there  was  the  appropriate 
place  for  Christ’s  Gospel  to  be  preached;  and  without  an  hour’s  delay  He 
rose  and  marched  with  swift  steps  to  the  field  of  much  the  larger  part  of 
all  His  ministry. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


377 


Before  He  went,  or  rather,  perhaps,  as  He  went,  Tie  paused  a  little 
while  beside  the  Jordan  where  John  was  still  baptizing,  and  therefor 
two  short  days  he  tarried  with,  or  near,  the  priestly  prophet,  who 
should  see  His  face  on  earth  no  more  (John  i:  29-36).  John,  too,  had  seen 
and  heard  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  to  the  Sonship  of  Christ.  His 
generous  soul  had 


felt  no  touch  of  envy 
at  the  sight.  He 
rejoiced  to  know  that 
One  was  to  come 
after  him  whose 
shoes’  latchet  he  was 
not  worthy  to  un¬ 
loose.  He  was  the 
first  of  men  to  bear 
“record  that  this  is 
the  Son  of  God.’’  He 
was  glad  to  send  his 
own  disciples  to  the 
greater  Master,  and 
the  first  of  Christ’s 
disciples  was  given 
Him  by  John.  Look¬ 
ing  upon  Jesus  as  He 
walked,  he  said  to 
two  of  his  followers, 

“Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God!”  and  the 
two  left  John  to  fol¬ 
low  Jesus.  One  of 
them  was  Andrew, 

who  soon  brought  his  own  brother  Simon  to  Jesus.  Thus  the  little  company 
of  Christ  s  disciples  was  begun.  The  next  day,  when  about  to  set  out  to  his 
work  in  Galilee,  Jesus  found  Philip  also,  and  said  to  him,  “Follow  thou  me.” 
One  disciple  invariably  calls  another;  and  as  Andrew  had  brought  Simon 


a 

HH 

C 

r 

w 

w 
w 
•  a 

5 

o 

o 

w 

z 

z 

M 

C/3 

> 

w 

a 


378 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


to  Jesus,  so  Philip  brought  Nathanael,  “an  Israelite  indeed.”  We  know 
nothing  further  of  Nathanael  than  that  the  place  of  his  abode  was  in  Cana 
of  Galilee,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  witnesses  of  Christ’s  resurrection 
(John  xxi:  i— 1 4).  It  is  conjectured,  indeed,  that  Nathanael  was  only  his 
personal  name,  and  that  his  surname  was  Bartholomew,  “the  son  of  Tal- 


CALLING  OF  THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES.  (MATT.  IV:  I8-I9.) 

mai,”  as  Simon’s  surname  was  Bar-Jona,  “the  son  of  Jona.”  If  the  con¬ 
jecture  is  correct,  then  Nathanael  was  one  of  the  twelve;  but  of  this  there 


is  no  certainty.  He  may  have  been  one  of  that  great  multitude  of  Israel¬ 
ites  indeed,  who  are  called  to  no  official  station  in  the  kingdom  of  God, 
but  who  are  among  its  chiefest  ornaments.  However  that  may  be,  it  is 
probable  that  he  now  returned  to  his  native  village  of  Cana  in  the  com¬ 
pany  of  Jesus. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


379 


On  the  third  day  (John  ii:  i,  3)  they  were  already  there,  and  the 
quickness  of  their  march  showed  the  alacrity  with  which  our  Lord  set 
forth  to  do  His  Father’s  business.  The  first  work  of  His  ministry  was 
meant  to  mark  with  signal  approbation  that  most  sacred  of  all  human  ties 
which  is  created  by  the  bond  of  marriage.  At  the  wedding  of  a  humble 
pair  He  “adorned  and  beautified  the  holy  estate  of  matrimony,  ’  and 
glorified  it  by  a  marvellous  work  of  superhuman  power.  It  is  pitiful  to 
think  how  blind  many  of  the  followers  of  Christ  have  been,  and  still  are* 
to  the  lesson  thus  taught  by  their 
Master  in  the  first  act  of  His  ministry. 

Not  one  word  nor  any  single  act  of  all 
His  life  is  at  variance  with  that  lesson. 

Jesus  taught  self-control;  He  never 
taught  asceticism.  He  insisted  on 
chastity;  He  never  taught  that  mar¬ 
riage  is  less  chaste  or  less  pleasing  to 
God  than  celibacy.  From  the  begin¬ 
ning  “God  has  set  the  solitary  to  live 
in  familes,”  and  the  family  is  made 
by  marriage.  The  family,  and  not  the 
individual,  is  the  true  unit  of  society. 

So  God  has  ordained;  and  the  Son  of 
God,  when  He  began  to  preach  the 
kingdom  of  God,  began  by  recognizing 
and  exalting  that  domain  of  God’s 
kingdom  of  the  family  which  is  estab¬ 
lished  by  every  lawful  marriage. 

Of  Cana,  the  scene  of  Christ’s  first  miracle,  there  is  little  to  be  told. 
Dr.  Robinson  thinks  it  must  have  been  a  village  situated  seven  miles  due 
north  of  Nazareth,  and  still  called  Kanet  el-Jelil,  the  Arab  equivalent  of 
“Cana  of  Galilee.”  The  traditional  site  of  Cana,  however,  is  considerably 
nearer  to  Nazareth.  Ascending  the  hill,  which  rises  behind  the  Virgin’s 
Well,  we  reach  its  summit  in  little  more  than  ten  minutes.  Descend¬ 
ing  into  the  valley  beyond  and  going  northward,  after  half  an  hour  of  easy 
walking  we  come  in  sight  of  the  birth-place  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  El  Meshed , 


380 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


the  ancient  Gath-Hepher  (2  Kings  xiv:  25);  and  about  a  mile  to  the  north¬ 
west  of  El-Meshed  is  the  spring  of  Kenna.  A  little  beyond  the  spring  is  the 
village  itself,  Kefr  Kenna ,  an  ordinary  hamlet  of  six  hundred  inhabitants, 
half  of  whom  are  Mahometans  and  half  Greek  Christians.  The  Greek 
church  contains  an  earthen  jar  which  is  said  to  be  one  of  those  in  which 
the  water  was  turned  into  wine.  All  six  of  them  are  reported  by  another 
story  to  have  been  taken  to  France  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  and  one 


HEALING  OF  THE  PARALYTIC  AT  CAPERNAUM.  (MATT.  IX:i-8.) 


of  them  is  still  preserved  in  the  Muse  d’Angers.  We  may  disregard 
these  pretended  relics;  but  if  Kefr  Kenna  is  indeed  the  Cana  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel,  and  so  the  weight  of  authority  seems  to  decide,  then  the  spring  is  an 
object  of  deep  and  sacred  interest,  as  the  source  from  which  the  water  was 
drawn  for  the  first  of  those  signs  of  divine  power  by  which  Jesus  “mani¬ 
fested  forth  His  glory.” 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


381 


The  life  ol  Jesus  at  Nazareth  was  ended;  His  greater  life  had  been 
introduced  by  the  miracle  at  Cana,  and  after  that  event  He  “went  down,” 
with  His  mother,  His  brethren  and  His  disciples,  on  a  short  visit  to  Caper¬ 
naum.  Joseph  is  no  longer  mentioned;  sometime  during  the  eighteen 
years  which  had  elapsed  since  the  first  visit  of  Jesus  to  Jerusalem  that 
good  man  had  been  taken  to  his  rest.  Who  are  meant  by  the  “brethren” 
of  Jesus  we  need  not 
here  inquire.  Some  com¬ 
mentators  and  all  the 
theologians  of  the  Roman 
and  oriental  churches 
maintain  that  they  were 
not  brothers  but  cousins 
of  Jesus,  and  this  has 
been  the  uniform  tra¬ 
dition  of  Christendom. 

On  the  other  hand  it  must 
be  confessed  that  there 
is  nothing  in  Holy  Scripture  to  intimate  that  they  were  not  brothers  in 
the  usual  sense  of  the  word,  children  of  Joseph  and  Mary.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  it  would  seem  that  these  brethren  of  Jesus  were  at  first  pleased  at 
the  power  He  had  exhibited,  and  were  perhaps  not  displeased  at  the  dis¬ 
tinction  it  reflected  on  themselves,  since  they  choose  to  be  among  the 
companions  of  His  visit  to  Capernaum. 

With  the  accuracy  of  one  who  was  familiar  with  the  scene,  St.  John 
rightly  says  that  He  “went  down”  from  Cana  to  Capernaum.  The  way  is 
one  long  descent,  for,  while  Cana  lay  among  the  hills  of  Nazareth,  Caper¬ 
naum  was  seven  hundred  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
road  had  few  points  of  interest  until  it  came  to  what  is  now  called  Kurun 
Hattin ,  or  the  Horns  of  Hattin ,  the  traditional  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes. 
Dr.  Robinson  describes  this  spot  as  being  “merely  a  low  ridge,  some  thirty 
or  forty  feet  high,  and  not  ten  minutes  walk  in  length  from  east  to  west. 
At  its  eastern  end  is  an  elevated  point  or  horn,  perhaps  sixty  feet  above 
the  plain;  and  at  the  western  end  another  not  so  high;  these  give  to  the 
ridge  at  a  distance  the  appearance  of  a  saddle,  whence  the  name  Kurun 


ET-TIN. 


382 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE, 


Hattin — Elorns  of  Hattin.  On  reaching  the  top  it  is  found  that  the  ridge 
lies  along  the  very  border  of  the  great  southern  plain  where  this  latter 
sinks  off  at  once  by  a  precipitous  offset  to  the  lower  Plain  of  Hattin,  four 
hundred  feet  below.”  In  the  lower  Plain  is  the  village  of  Hattin,  and 
toward  the  north  and  northeast  a  second  offset,  similar  to  the  former, 
makes  the  descent  to  the  level  of  the  lake. 

The  Kurun  Hattin  is  held  by  the  Latins  to  be  the  Mount  of  Beati¬ 
tudes,  where  the  Saviour  delivered  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount  to  the  multi¬ 
tude  standing  in  the  adjacent  plain.  There  is  nothing  in  Holy  Scripture, 
to  indicate  the  geographical  situation  of  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes;  and 
there  is  nothing  in  the  form  or  surroundings  of  Kurun  Hattin  to  make  the 
tradition  inherently  inadmissible.  The  objection  to  it  is,  that  it  is  found 
among  the  Latins  only;  not  among  the  Greeks;  and  that  even  among  the 
Latins,  the  first  mention  of  the  place  in  connection  with  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  is  by  Brocardus  about  A.  D.  1283.  Previous  writers,  both  Greek 
and  Latin,  had  supposed  Kurun  Hattin  to  be  the  place  where  our  Lord  fed 
the  five  thousand.  That  tradition  is  inherently  improbable,  and  dates  only 
from  the  fourth  century;  but  it  has  at  least  the  support  of  the  Greeks  as 
well  as  of  the  Latins,  and  it  is  nine  hundred  years  earlier  than  the  tradition 
which  makes  the  same  place  the  scene  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

From  the  Horns  of  Hattin,  the  travelers  had  a  full  view  of  the  beauti¬ 
ful  lake  extending  thirteen  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  seven  at  its 
greatest  width  from  east  to  west,  lyre-like  in  form,  and,  therefore,  in 
ancient  times  called  Chinnereth ,  the  Lyre ,  though  it  is  also  known  as  the 
Lake  of  Gennesareth ,  the  Lake  of  Capernaum ,  the  Sea  of  Tiberias ,  and  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  So  far  did  it  surpass  all  other  waters  known  to  Israel,  that 
the  rabbis  used  to  say  God  had  made  seven  seas  in  the  Land  of  Israel, 
but  had  chosen  Chinnereth  for  Himself.  The  scenery  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee 
is  not  grand;  it  is  only  peaceful  and  joyous,  and,  therefore,  most  appropri¬ 
ate  for  the  proclamation  of  a  gospel  of  peace  and  joy.  It  has  no  high 
mountains,  and  with  two  exceptions,  no  rugged  crags  or  gloomy  precipices. 
On  the  further  side,  indeed,  barren  hills  of  black  basalt  rise  over  a  fringe 
of  oleanders  which  bloom  gaily  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  back  from  the  shell- 
strewn  border  of  the  lake,  and  behind  those  rocks  are  pastoral  wilds  where 
Jesus  often  sought  retirement  from  the  crowds  that  thronged  about  Him. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


3S5 


Northward,  the  shore  is  broken  by  graceful  bays  of  exquisite  beauty;  but 
it  is  on  the  western  side  that  the  paradise  of  Galilee  was  to  be  seen,  for 
there  was  Gennesareth,  that  is  to  say,  Ganne  Sarim,  the  Garden  of 
Princes,  now  called  El  Ghuweir.  This  celebrated  plain  lies  about  midway 
between  Tiberias  and  the  entrance  of  the  Jordan  into  the  lake.  It  is  only 
two  and  a  half  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and  not  more  than  a 


RAISING  OF  JAIRUS’  DAUGHTER.  (MATT.  IX:25.) 


mile  in  depth,  but  in  the  time  of  Christ  it  was  the  richest  spot  in  Palestine. 
It  was  watered  by  five  streams  from  the  neighboring  hills,  and  the  sun 
warmed  it  into  tropical  fertility.  “Its  soil,”  says  Josephus,  “is  so  fruitful, 
that  every  sort  of  tree  can  grow  upon  it,  and  the  inhabitants  have  planted 
an  amazing  variety.  Walnuts,  which  require  a  cold  air,  fig-trees,  which 
require  an  air  more  temperate,  and  palms,  which  require  a  hot  climate, 


386 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


flourish  luxuriantly  beside  each  other.  One  might  say  that  this  place  is  a 
triumph  of  nature,  since  it  compels  plants  that  are  naturally  aliens  to  each 
other  to  grow  side  by  side.  The  seasons,  also,  seem  to  maintain  a  gener¬ 
ous  rivalry;  for  the  plain  not  only  nourishes  fruits  of  different  climes,  but 
the  soil  yields  them  at  the  most  various  times  of  the  year;  grapes  and  figs 
ripen  continuously  for  ten  months;  and  other  fruits  come  in  delightful  con¬ 
fusion  all  the  year  round.”  This  lovely  plain  enjoys  the  only  romantic 
scenery  of  the  coast,  for  at  its  southern  end  are  the  limestone  crags  of 
Arbela,  in  whose  lofty  caverns  robbers  and  Jewish  patriots  once  took  refuge, 
where  the  eagles  only  now  built  their  nests. 

The  Plain  of  Gennesareth,  Josephus  says,  was  called  by  its  inhabit¬ 
ants,  Capernaum,  a  simple  explanation  of  the  fact,  that  the  site  of  Caper¬ 
naum  is  not  positively  known.  If  Josephus  is  right,  and  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  he  should  not  be,  Capernaum  was  the  name  of  the  district, 
and  not  of  a  particular  spot  in  the  district.  Gennesareth,  as  its  name 
implies,  was  a  plain  of  “gardens,”  and,  therefore,  must  have  been  closely 
cultivated  and  thickly  inhabited.  It  had  a  synagogue,  in  which  our  Lord 
frequently  taught  (John  vi:  59;  Mark  i:  21;  Lukeiv:  33-38);  and  this  syna¬ 
gogue  had  been  built  by  the  centurion  of  a  detachment  of  Roman  soldiers, 
which  appears  to  have  been  quartered  in  the  place  (Luke  vii :  1-8 ;  Matt, 
viii:  8).  It  has  been  well  observed,  that  the  building  of  a  synagogue  by  a 
foreigner,  and  not  by  the  inhabitants,  would  go  far  to  show,  that  Caper¬ 
naum  was  not  at  that  time  a  place  of  wealth  or  commercial  importance; 
but  the  same  circumstance  would  be  perfectly  natural  in  a  district  densely 
populated  by  humble  gardeners.  Such  a  district  having  a  synagogue,  a 
garrison  and  a  station  for  the  collection  of  customs  (Matt,  ix:  9;  xvii:  24; 
Mark  ii:  14;  Luke  v:2j),  might  properly  be  called  a  “city,”  as  Capernaum 
undoubtedly  was  (Matt,  ix:  1 ;  Mark  i:  33),  and  situated  as  it  probably  was, 
on  “the  way  of  the  sea,”  that  is,  on  the  great  road  from  Damascus  to  the 
South,  the  custom  house  at  Capernaum  may  have  been  maintained  for  the 
levying  of  duties  on  the  caravans  of  merchandise  passing  to  Galilee  and 
Judea,  as  well  as  on  the  fish  and  other  commerce  of  the  lake.  Even 
the  local  traffic  would  be  by  no  means  contemptible;  for 'in  the  time  of 
Christ  “the  waters  of  the  lake  were  ploughed  by  4,000  vessels  of  every 
description,  from  the  war-vessel  of  the  Romans  to  the  rough  fisher-boats 


St.  Mark  (vi  153)  says,  that  on  a  certain  occasion,  Jesus  and  His  disciples 
“came  into  the  land  (Plain)  of  Gennesareth,”  while  St.  John  (vr.24)  says, 
that  the  people  who  came  to  seek  Him  immediately  afterward  found  Him 
at  Capernaum.  It  is  true  that  Jesus  might  have  gone  from  the  one  place 
to  the  other,  before  the  people  found  Him;  but  it  seems  to  be  unnecessary 
to  devise  so  clumsy  an  explanation,  when  no  explanation  is  necessary,  if 
the  Gennesareth  of  St.  Mark,  and  the  Capernaum  of  St.  John  signify  the 
same  place. 

Volumes,  however,  have  been  written  concerning  the  site  of  Caper¬ 
naum,  and  three  spots  have  been  particularly  singled  out,  as  indicating  the 
true  place  where  the  Lord’s  “own  city”  stood.  Strange  to  say,  that  which 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  387 

of  Bethsaida,  and  the  gilded  pinnaces  from  Herod’s  palace”  at  Tiberias. 
The  statement  of  Josephus,  that  Capernaum  was  the  name  given  by  its 
inhabitants,  to  the  Plain  of  Gennesareth,  is  remarkably  confirmed  by  an 
apparent  discrepancy  between  two  of  the  evangelists,  which  would  almost 
imply  a  contradiction  if  Capernaum  lay  beyond  the  Plain  of  Gennesareth. 


ET-TABIGAH. 


388 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


is  most  generally  approved,  is  not  in  the  Plain  of  Gennesareth  at  all,  but 
about  two  miles  to  the  north  of  it;  and  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the 
remains  at  Tell  Hum  are  more  like  those  of  a  “city”  than  the  ruins  at  Ain 
Mudawarah ,  which  lie  within  the  plain,  or  of  Khan  Minyeh ,  which  lie  on 
its  northern  border.  This  fact,  however,  proves  nothing,  unless  it  goes  to 
prove  that  Tell  Hum  cannot  be  Capernaum. 

The  name  Tell  Hum  presents  a  greater  difficulty,  since  it  is  very  prob¬ 
ably  a  remnant  of  Capernaum,  different  as  it  sounds  to  English  ears. 
Capernaum  is  simply  Caphar  Nahum ,  the  town  of  Nahum.  Its  Arabic 
equivalent  would  be  Kefr-n  Hum;  and  when  the  town  ( kefr )  became  a  heap 
(tell)  of  ruins,  Kefr-n  Hum  would  be  easily  replaced  by  Tell  ri Hum,  and 
finally  by  Tell  Hum.  Supposing  this  to  be  the  fact,  still  it  does  not  prove 
that  the  Capernaum  which  is  now  represented  by  the  ruins  at  Tell  Hum, 
is  the  Capernaum  of  the  gospels.  In  the  time  of  Hadrian,  long  after  the 
time  of  Christ,  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  return  to  their  own  land.  In 
Galilee  they  were  much  more  numerous  than  in  the  rest  of  the  country, 
and  the  Capernaum  of  that  period  might  easily  take  the  ancient  name 
without  standing  in  the  neighboring  Plain  of  Gennesareth. 

One  of  the  very  best  and  briefest  statements  of  the  case  between  Ain 
Mudawarah ,  Khan  Minyeh ,  and  Tell  Hum  (and  incidentally,  also  of  the 
position  of  Bethsaida),  is  that  given  as  follows  by  Dr.  Tristram: 

“The  soil  of  the  plain  is  wonderfully  rich.  It  is  a  wilderness — not,  as 
in  the  days  of  Josephus,  an  earthly  paradise;  but  it  is  a  strikingly  beauti¬ 
ful  one.  Wild  flowers  spring  up  everywhere.  Tulips,  anemones,  and  irises, 
carpet  the  ground.  The  various  streams  are  lined  with  deep  borders  of 
oleanders,  waving  with  their  rosy  tufts  of  bloom,  one  sheet  of  pink.  Thick 
tangles  of  thorn-tree  every  here  and  there  choke  the  straggling  corn- 
patches,  festooned  with  wreaths  of  gorgeous  purple  convolvulus.  The 
plain  is  almost  a  parallelogram,  shut  in  on  the  north  and  south  sides  by 
steep  cliffs,  nearly  a  thousand  feet  high,  broken  here  and  there  into  ter¬ 
races,  but  nowhere  easily  to  be  climbed.  On  the  west  side,  the  hills  recede 
not  quite  so  precipitously,  and  streams  of  black  basalt  boulders  encroach 
on  the  plain.  The  shore  line  is  gently  embayed,  and  the  beach  is  pearly 
white — one  mass  of  triturated  fresh-water  shells — and  edged  by  a  fringe  of 
the  exquisitely  lovely  oleanders. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


3S9 


At  the  northwest  and  southwest  angles,  tremendous  ravines  open  upon 
the  plain.  That  to  the  south,  Wady  Hamam ,  where  the  cliffs  rise  perpen¬ 
dicularly  twelve  hundred  feet,  is  the  ravine  of  the  robber  caves,  already 
mentioned,  with  its  tiers  of  cavern  chambers. 

The  glen  to  the  northwest,  the  Wady  Amud ,  is  scarcely  less  striking, 
and  in  some  places,  from  its  narrowness,  is  even  more  imposing.  Both 
are  the  homes  of  thousands  of  griffon  vultures,  which  rejoice  in  the  deserted 
caverns  and  solitude.  Between  these  two,  a  third  wady,  Rubudiyeh ,  opens 
in  a  wider  valley.  From  each  of  these  perennial  streams  run  to  the  lake,. 


NORTH  SHORE,  NEAR  TELL-HUM. 


fertilizing  the  whole  plain;  and  in  ancient  times  aqueducts  conveyed  the 
water  to  every  part. 

A  little  way  to  the  south  of  the  middle  valley,  a  copious  spring  bursts 
forth  into  an  ancient  circular  fountain,  about  thirty  yards  in  diameter,  Ain 
Mudawarah ,  from  which  a  little  stream  runs  right  across  the  plain  to  the 
lake.  This  I  formerly  believed  to  be  the  Round  Fountain  of  Capernaum, 
described  by  Josephus.  But  it  has  since  been  shown,  by  the  researches  of 


390 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


Sir  C.  Wilson,  that  the  larger  and  similar  Fountain  of  Et  Tabighah,  to  the 
north  of  the  plain,  had  its  waters  conducted  by  an  aqueduct,  round  the  pro¬ 
jecting  headland  which  forms  its  northeastern  angle,  right  into  the  plain, 
and,  therefore,  the  description  of  Josephus  will  apply  equally  to  it.  No 
doubt  there  are  difficulties  connected  with  the  site  of  Capernaum,  which¬ 
ever  of  the  three  localities  claimed  for  it  we  accept;  but,  after  the  recent 
surveys,  I  am  not  prepared  to  maintain  the  site  of  Mudawarah. 

In  the  plain  itself,  there  are  no  other  ruins  of  importance  till  we  reach 
the  northeast  angle;  and  if  Capernaum  were,  as  all  writers  describe  it,  in 
the  plain,  it  must  have  been  either  here  or  at  Mudawarah. 

The  ruins  at  this  point  are  few.  There  is  a  large  ruined  Saracenic 
khan,  some  chambers  of  which  are  still  used  as  cattle  sheds.  It  was  known 
seven  hundred  years  ago  as  a  halting-place  on  the  road  from  Damascus, 
and  is  called  Khan  Minyeh.  A  few  yards  lower  down,  nearer  the  shore,  is 
A  in  et-Tin ,  “the  fountain  of  the  fig-tree,”  bursting  copiously  from  the 
rocks,  and  sending  forth  a  supply  of  sweet  water  under  the  shade  of  three 
fine  fig-trees,  whence  its  name.  The  little  stream,  after  a  course  of  about 
thirty  yards,  forms  a  small  luxuriant  marsh,  skirted  with  oleanders,  and 
choked  with  waving  tufts  of  the  beautiful  tall  papyrus  of  Egypt.  The  ruins, 
the  second  claimant  for  Capernaum ,  are  to  the  west  of  it,  forming  a  series 
of  mounds,  but  no  fragments  of  columns  or  carvings  have  been  found.  On 
the  hill  above  are  some  more  distinct  ruins  and  tombs,  and  just  above  the 
khan,  the  aqueduct  from  Ain  Tabighah  winds  round  the  cliff,  and  is  now 
used  as  a  horse-path.  The  spot  loses  none  of  its  interest  from  the  disputed 
identification.  Whatever  it  be,  many  times  must  our  Redeemer  have 
trodden  the  path  by  that  fountain;  and  often  the  walls  below,  and  the  cliffs 
above  it,  re-echoed  the  voice  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man  spake. 

Passing  north,  we  leave  Gennesareth’s  Plain  round  the  edge  of  a  bluff 
which  descends  to  the  water’s  edge,  wholly  interrupting  any  passage  by  the 

shore,  and  having  no  beach.  Descending  immediately,  the  path  leads  close 

* 

to  the  beach,  and  at  little  more  than  a  mile  stands  Ain  Tabighah,  usually 
agreed  on  as  Bethsaida ,  “  The  House  of  Fish,"  and  still  the  chief  fishing  sta¬ 
tion  on  the  lake,  the  few  naked  fishermen  casting  hand-nets  into  the  shal¬ 
low  waters,  one  boat  being  used  to  supply  the  Tiberias  market.  A  few 
hundred  yards  behind,  on  the  hill,  is  the  great  Round  Fountain  before 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


39i 


alluded  to,  and  supposed,  by  Sir  C.  Wilson,  to  be  the  Fountain  of  Caper¬ 
naum,  of  Josephus.  It  is  the  largest  spring  in  Galilee — half  the  size  of  that 
of  the  Jordan,  at  Caesarea  Philippi.  It  was  formerly  raised  by  a  strong 
octagonal  reservoir,  some  twenty  feet  above  its  source,  and  thence  conveyed 


RUINS  AT  TELL-HUM. 


to  the  plain  by  an  aqueduct.  Neglect  has  long  since  suffered  the  great 
reservoir  to  be  broken  through,  as  well  as  the  aqueduct,  of  which,  here  and 
there,  piers  maybe  seen.  There  are  four  other  fountains,  all  slightly  brack¬ 
ish  and  warm.  These,  sending  up  a  cloud  of  steam  in  the  still  atmos¬ 
phere,  produce  a  luxuriant  semi-tropical  oasis  around  them,  but  are  other¬ 
wise  wasted,  save  that  a  portion  of  the  water  is  collected  in  an  aqueduct 


392  BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 

to  turn  a  corn-mill,  the  only  one  in  working  order  of  five,  and  the  solitary 
inhabited  dwelling  of  Bethsaida.  The  white  beach  gently  shelves,  and  is 
admirably  adapted,  with  its  little  curved  bay,  for  fishing-boats.  The  an¬ 
chorage  is  good,  and  is  partly  protected  by  submerged  rows  of  stones, 
though  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  break-water.  Rocks,  how¬ 
ever,  project  more  than  fifty  yards  out  at  the  southwest,  forming  a  sort  of 
protection.  The  sand  has  just  the  gentle  slope  fitted  for  the  fishermen 
running  up  their  boats  and  beaching  them. 

Here  we  may  safely  fix  the  scene  of  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes 
and  the  subsequent  call  of  Peter  and  Andrew,  James  and  John  (Luke 
v:  i - 1 1 ) .  Bethsaida  was  coupled,  in  the  woe  denounced  by  our  Lord, 
with  its  sister  cities  Chorazin  and  Capernaum;  and  now,  not  only  in  the 
desolation  of  their  sites,  but  in  the  very  dispute  about  their  identity,  we 
see  it  has  been  “more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon”  in  the  day  of  their 
earthly  judgment  than  for  these  cities.  Their  names  are  preserved,  their 
sites  are  unquestioned,  but  here  the  names  are  gone,  and  even  the  sites  are 
disputed  (Matt,  xi:  21-24). 

This  Bethsaida,  the  birth-place  of  Andrew,  Peter  and  Philip,  is  called 
Bethsaida  of  Galilee  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other  Bethsaida,  north  of 
the  lake,  on  the  east  side  of  Jordan,  Bethsaida  Julias. 

Proceeding  northward  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  we  come  upon  a  little 
low  promontory  running  out  into  the  lake,  covered  with  sculptured  ruins 
and  known  as  Tell  Hum ,  the  third  and,  I  am  now  inclined  to  believe,  the 
rightful  claimant  for  the  site  of  ancient  Capernaum.  The  most  conspicu¬ 
ous  ruin  is  at  the  water’s  edge,  called  the  White  Synagogue,  built  of  hard 
white  limestone,  while  the  district  round  is  strewn  with  blocks  of  black 
basalt.  It  is  now  partly  buried,  and  is  nearly  level  with  the  surface,  the 
capitals  and  colums  having  been  for  the  most  part  carried  away  or  burnt 
for  lime.  The  excavations  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  have,  how¬ 
ever,  shown  many  of  the  pedestals  in  their  original  position  and  many 
capitals  buried  in  the  rubbish.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  from  the  form  and 
plan  of  the  building,  that  it  is  a  Jewish  synagogue. 

The  outside  of  the  synagogue  of  Tell  Hum  was  decorated  with  pilas¬ 
ters,  and  attached  to  its  eastern  side  is  a  later  addition,  a  rectangular 
building  with  three  entrances  on  the  north  and  one  on  the  east,  but  with- 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


393 


out  a  doorway  to  connect  the  two  buildings.  But  the  most  interesting 
relic  here  is  a  large  block,  once  a  lintel,  with  the  pot  of  manna  sculptured 
on  it.  If  this  be  Capernaum,  then  this  must  beyond  doubt,  be  the  syna¬ 
gogue  built  by  the  Roman  centurion  (Luke  vii:  4,  5),  and  it  was  within  its 
walls  that  our  Lord  uttered  the  discourse  in  John,  Chap,  vi,  and  perhaps, 
pointing  to  the  pot  of  manna  carved  over  the  door,  proclaimed,  “I  am 
that  bread  of  life.  Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  Wilderness  and  are 
dead.”  It  is  possible,  from  the  Corinthian  and  Ionic  mouldings,  that  this 
place  is  a  later  erection  of  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  and  that  the 
name  Tell  Hum,  or  “hill  of  Hum,”  was  applied  to  it  when  it  took  the 


SAFED. 


place  of  the  earlier  Kefr  Nahum,  or  Capernaum,  “the  village  of  Hum.” 
I  he  remains  of  the  latter  building  are  probably  those  of  the  church 
which  we  are  told  was  built  at  Capernaum,  and  is  described,  about  the 
year  A.  D.  600,  as  a  basilica  enclosing  the  house  of  Peter. 

Round  the  synagogue  and  stretching  for  half  a  mile  from  the  shore, 
the  area  is  covered  with  the  ruined  walls  of  private  houses  and  the  traces 
of  a  main  street.  Beyond  these  are  some  remarkable  tombs  above  and 


394 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


below  ground.  There  are  no  traces  of  a  harbor,  and  it  could  never  have 
been  a  convenient  spot  for  fishing-boats.  But  at  least  it  seems  tolerably 
certain  that  whether  this  be  the  Capernaum  of  our  Lord’s  time  or  not,  it 
is  the  Capernaum  of  the  Jews  when,  under  Hadrian,  they  were  permitted 
to  return  to  their  land.  Its  distance  from  the  Round  Fountain  and  from 
the  Plain  of  Gennesareth  seems  the  obstacle  to  a  decisive  admission  of 
its  being  the  city  of  the  Gospels.” 

Two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Tell  Hum,  and  two  miles  back  from 
the  lake,  are  the  ruins  of  Chorazin,  now  called  Kerazeh ,  situated  partly 
in  a  narrow  wady  of  the  same  name  and  partly  on  an  eminence  700  feet 
above  the  lake.  The  surrounding  country  is  pathless  and  utterly  desolate. 
The  ground  is  covered  with  millions  of  black  boulders  over  which  a  horse 
can  hardly  make  his  way,  and  which  presents  the  appearance  of  having 
been  poured  down  in  a  tremendous  rain  of  rocks  and  stones.  How  or  why 
a  city  could  ever  have  existed  or  flourished  in  such  a  situation  it  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  imagine.  Yet  Chorazin  must  once  have  been  a  place  of  importance. 
Its  ruins  are  as  extensive  as  those  of  Tell  Hum,  and  they  are  in  a  fair  state 
of  preservation.  Though  they  have  been  unoccupied  since  the  fourth 
century,  the  walls  of  many  of  the  dwellings  are  still  standing.  They  are 
two  feet  thick,  and  some  of  them  are  fully  six  feet  high,  built  of  blocks  of 
basalt,  with  windows  a  foot  high,  by  six  or  seven  inches  wide.  The  roofs, 
which  seem  to  have  been  flat,  were  supported  by  columns.  The  houses 
vary  in  size,  the  smallest  being  simply  tiny  stone  boxes,  and  the  largest 
being  about  thirty  feet  square  and  divided  into  four  chambers.  Here,  too, 
are  the  remains  of  a  large  synagogue,  and  beside  a  tree  in  the  middle  of  the 
ancient  town,  is  a  spring.  Such  as  Kerazeh  is  now,  Chorazin  must  have 
been  in  the  time  of  Christ.  In  such  places  He  carried  an  His  labors,  and 
in  such  dwellings  He  took  his  rest.  No  wonder  that,  under  the  clear  sky  of 
the  Holy  Land,  He  preferred  to  spend  His  night  in  the  open  air! 

About  eight  miles  northwest  of  Tell  Hum  and  towering  high  above  the 
intervening  hills,  so  as  to  be  visible  from  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  stands  Safed.  It  is  not  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Scriptures,  but 
it  is  believed  to  have  been  referred  to  by  our  Saviour  as  the  “City  set  upon 
an  hill,”  which  “cannot  be  hid”  (Matt,  v:  14).  Though  the  name  of  Safat 
occurs  in  the  Talmud  of  Jerusalem,  it  cannot  be  proved  by  any  direct  evi- 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  395 

denceto  have  been  built  so  early  as  the  time  of  Christ;  and  yet  it  seems 
to  be  improbable  that  a  military  position  so  strong  as  that  of  Safed  should 
have  been  overlooked  or  unoccupied.  At  the  present  time  it  is  the  place  of 
all  others  in  that  region,  which  would  be  most  readily  thought  of  to  point 
the  Saviour’s  illustration.  Certain  it  is  that  Safed  was  a  place  of  strength 


VIEW  FROM  CASTLE  OF  SAFED. 

in  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  ana  that  Saladin  had  great  difficulty  in  reduc¬ 
ing  it.  In  1250  it  was  destroyed  by  the  Sultan  of  Damascus,  but  it  was 
afterward  restored  by  the  Templars.  In  1266  the  garrison  surrendered 
to  Bibars,  by  whom  the  survivors  were  massacred.  Safed  then  became  the 
capital  of  a  province.  In  1759  it  was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake.  In 
1799  it  was  occupied  by  the  French.  It  is  now  a  sacred  place  of  the  Jews 
who  believe  that  when  the  Messiah  comes,  he  will  rise  from  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth,  and  establish  His  throne  at  Safed.  Safed,  therefore,  is  one  of 
the  four  great  Jewish  sanctuaries,  the  other  three  being  at  Jerusalem,  Heb- 


396 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


ron  and  Tiberias.  It  is  occupied  by  a  Jewish  colony  founded  not  later 
than  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  also  the  seat  of  a  celebrated  school  of 
rabbinical  learning,  and  besides  the  schools  which  were  originally  taught 
by  famous  Spanish  rabbis,  it  once  had  eighteen  synagogues.  Half  of  the 
present  population  of  Safed,  amounting  to  about  5,000  souls,  are  Jews. 
They  are  punctilious  sticklers  for  the  law;  and  Dr.  Thomson  says  that 
“their  social  institutions  and  manners  comprise  a  grotesque  mingling  of 
filth  and  finery,  Pharasaic  self-righteousness  and  Saducean  license.  A  Jew 
on  the  Sabbath  Day,  “must  not  carry  even  so  much  as  a  pocket  handker¬ 
chief,  except  within  the  walls  of  the  city.  If  there  are  no  walls,  it  follows, 
according  to  their  logic,  that  he  must  not  carry  it  at  all.  To  avoid  this 
difficulty  here  in  Safed,  they  resorted  to  what  they  called  Eruv.  Poles 
were  set  up  at  the  ends  of  the  streets,  and  strings  stretched  from  one  to  the 
other.  Those  strings  represented  a  wall,  and  a  conscientious  Jew  could 
carry  his  handkerchief  anywhere  within  their  limits.  I  was  once  amused 
by  a  devout  Israelite  who  was  walking  with  me,  on  his  Sabbath,  toward  a 
grove  of  olive  trees  where  my  tent  was  pitched.  When  we  came  to 
the  end  of  the  street  the  string  was  gone,  and  so  he  supposed  he  was  at 
liberty  to  go  on  without  reference  to  what  was  in  his  pocket,  because  he 
had  passed  the  wall.  A  profane  and  most  quarrelsome  Jew  once  handed 
me  his  watch  to  wind  just  after  sunset  on  Friday  evening.  It  was  then  his 
Sabbath  and  he  could  not  work.”  This  punctilious  gentleman  had  evidently 
forgotten  that  the  man-servant,  and  the  maid-servant  and  the  cattle,  and 
the  stranger  were  equally  prohibited  from  work  on  the  Sabbath  day,  so 
far  as  it  depended  upon  Israelites;  but  it  was  among  just  such  supersti¬ 
tious  punctilios  that  our  Lord  came  preaching  the  gospel  of  liberty.  How 
hard  it  must  have  been  we  can  never  imagine;  and  how  sacrilegiously  de¬ 
structive  it  must  have  seemed  to  the  people  who  heard  Him  it  is  impossi¬ 
ble  for  us  to  conceive. 

On  the  first  of  January,  1837,  Safed  was  again  destroyed  by  an  earth¬ 
quake.  The  city  then  contained  9,000  souls,  and  was  built  on  the  side  of 
the  mountain.  As  one  tier  of  houses  fell,  it  rolled  on  the  tier  below,  crush¬ 
ing  all  beneath.  Nearly  5,000  persons  were  killed.  Most  of  the  Jews  now 
at  Safed  are  Polish  immigrants  under  Austrian  protection,  and  almost  all 
of  them  are  beggars.  Among  the  Sephardim  ( i .  e.,  the  Spanish-Portu- 
guese  Jews),  polygamy  is  still  practiced. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


397 


Six  miles  northwest  of  Safed  is  El  Jish ,  the  ancient  Giscala,  seated  on 
a  cone-shaped  hill.  It  was  the  last  place  in  Galilee  which  surrendered  to 
the  Romans  under  Titus,  and  according  to  St.  Jerome,  it  was  the  home  of 
the  parents  of  St.  Paul,  before  they  emigrated  to  Tarsus.  In  the  great 
earthquake  which  was  so  disastrous  to  Safed,  El  Jish  was  completely 
destroyed.  Not  a  house  was  left  standing,  and  a  congregation  of  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty-five  persons,  which  happened  at  the  moment  to  be  gath- 


MAGDALA. 

ered  in  the  church,  was  buried  in  the  ruins.  Only  the  priest  escaped, 
being  saved  by  a  projection  of  the  arch  over  the  altar. 

Returning  to  the  Plain  of  Gennesareth,  we  find  its  southwestern 
border  closed  by  steep  cliffs,  and,  beside  the  shore  is  a  wretched  collection 
of  hovels  called  Mejdel,  which  is  all  that  remains  of  Magdala;  the  town  of 
Mary,  the  Magdalene.  “Through  its  connection  with  her  whom  the  long 
opinion  of  the  Church  identified  with  the  penitent  sinner,”  says  Dean 


39§ 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


Stanley,  “the  name  of  that  ancient  tower  (Migdol)  has  been  incorporated 
into  all  the  languages  of  Europe.  A  large  solitary  thorn-tree  stands 
beside  it.  The  situation,  otherwise  unmarked,  is  dignified  by  the  high 
limestone  rock  which  overhangs  it  on  the  southwest,  perforated  with  caves, 
recalling,  by  a  curious  though  doubtless  unintentional  coincidence,  the 
scene  of  Correggio’s  celebrated  picture.”  With  the  exception  of  this 
miserable  hamlet,  where  there  is  such  abject  degradation,  that  the  children 
play  stark  naked  in  the  street,  there  is  not  an  inhabited  spot  in  El  Ghu- 
weir,  the  once  crowded  Plain  of  Gennesareth.  The  huts  are  built  of  mud 
and  stone,  without  windows.  The  inhabitants  are  unspeakably  filthy.  The 
ground  is  overrun  with  tropical  weeds  which  show  the  richness  of  the  soil, 
while  the  flowering  oleanders  seem  to  protest  against  the  desolation  into 
which  that  once  pleasant  plain  has  been  suffered  to  fall.  From  the  rocks 
behind  Mejdel  is  perhaps  the  very  finest  view  of  the  Plain  and  Lake  of 
Gennesareth. 

The  wady  which  rises  up  behind  Mejdel  is  the  Wady  Hammam ,  the 
Valley  of  Doves,  famous  in  Jewish  history.  Its  upright  walls  are  1,000  feet 
in  height.  On  the  southern  edge  of  the  ravine  are  the  ruins  of  Irbid,  once 
the  great  Jewish  town  of  Arbela,  as  appears  from  the  remains  of  a  magnifi¬ 
cent  synagogue.  On  the  northern  side  are  many  small  caves  in  which  not 
only  doves  or  pigeons  but  eagles,  ravens  and  vultures  make  their  abode. 
In  the  time  of  Herod,  these  caves  were  the  resort  of  great  numbers  of 
Jewish  Zealots,  who,  in  that  unapproachable  stronghold,  defied  their 
enemies.  Herod,  then  a  young  man,  marched  against  them,  and  was  very 
nearly  defeated;  but,  driving  the  insurgents  to  their  dens,  he  let  down  his 
soldiers  in  iron  cages,  drew  out  the  wretched  enthusiasts  with  hooks,  and 
hurled  them  to  the  foot  of  the  precipice.  Some  of  them  were  smoked  out 
of  their  retreat  by  fires  of  straw  kindled  at  the  mouths  of  the  caves,  and 
wildly  leaped  out  of  their  own  accord.  The  triumph  of  Herod  was  com¬ 
plete.  The  Zealots  were  exterminated,  and  the  only  human  beings  who 
have  since  dwelt  in  those  caves,  have  been  peaceful  monks. 

About  a  mile  to  the  south  of  Magdala,  a  narrow  glen  breaks  down 
from  the  west,  and  at  its  mouth,  near  to  the  lake,  are  some  cultivated 
fields  and  gardens,  with  several  copious  fountains,  and  the  ruins  of  a  village 
surrounded  by  heavy  ancient  walls.  This  place  is  called  Ain-el-Barideh 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


399 


the  Cold  Fountain.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  Dalmanutha  of  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Mark.  The  only  reason  to  be  given  for  this  identification  is,  that 
while  St.  Matthew  (xv:  39)  says  that  Jesus  “came  into  the  border  of  Mag- 
dala,”  St.  Mark  (viii:  10)  says,  that  He  “came  into  the  parts  of  Dalma¬ 
nutha.”  The  two  places  are  so  near  to  each  other,  that  it  would  be 
perfectly  natural  to  adopt  either  of  these  descriptions  of  the  district  lying 
between  them;  and  there  is  no  other  place  near  Magdala  of  which  the 
same  could  be  said.  Dr.  Robinson,  however,  identifies  Dalmanutha  with 
Dalhamia  or  Dalmaniia  on  the  Jarmuk,  which  flows  into  the  Jordan  a 

t 

little  south  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

Four  miles  north  of  the  exit  of  the  Jordan  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee 
are  hot  springs,  four  in  number,  which  have  been  famous  for  thousands  of 
years.  Their  water  is  excessively  bitter  and  salt,  and  has  a  strong  smell 
of  sulphur.  Its  temperature  is  about  144  degrees  Fahrenheit.  -  These 
springs  are  believed  to  be  medicinal,  and  are  said  to  afford  relief  in  cases 
of  rheumatism  and  other  maladies.  In  the  time  of  Joshua  they  were 
probably  surrounded  by  a  walled  town,  Hammatli ,  ( the  Baths),  which  was 
one  of  the  “fenced  cities”  given  by  Joshua  to  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  (Josh, 
xix:  35).  The  city  of  Hammath  probably  lay  to  the  south  of  the  springs, 
as  the  outlines  of  ruins  of  great  antiquity  can  still  be  traced  there,  though 
similar  remains,  found  among  ruins  of  a  later  date  to  the  north  of  the 
springs,  indicate  that  the  Herodian  city  which  afterward  occupied  that 
site  stood,  probably,  at  least,  on  the  site  of  another  city  of  greater  antiquity 
and  possibly  of  equal  splendor.  In  the  time  of  Josephus  Hammath  was 
called  Ammaus  or  Emmaus.  At  the  present  time  the  water  from  the 
springs  is  collected  into  one  channel  and  conducted  to  covered  baths  which 
are  not  more  than  fifty  years  old.  The  reservoir  is  arched  over,  and  the 
water  is  allowed  to  cool  until  its  temperature  is  sufficiently  reduced  for 
bathing. 

Somewhat  to  the  north  of  Hammath,  and  perhaps  including  a  part  of  it, 
was  built  the  city  of  Tiberias.  It  was  founded  by  Herod  Antipas,  A.  D.  20, 
and  was  finished  A.  D.  27;  that  is  to  say,  it  was  begun  when  our  Saviour 
was  about  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  was  finished  when  He  was  about 
thirty-one.  It  is  one  of  the  incidental  evidences  of  the  historical  charac¬ 
ter  of  the  Gospels  that  they  do  'not  represent  our  Lord  as  having  ever 


400 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


entered  the  splendid  city  which  Herod  had  named  in  honor  of  the 
Emperor  Tiberias.  If  the  Gospels  were  of  the  date  of  the  second  and 
third  centuries,  as  certain  critics  would  have  us  believe,  the  writers  would 
hardly  have  remembered,  and  probably  would  not  have  known  the  reason 
why  our  Saviour,  who  visited  so  many  other  places  on  the  shores  of  that 
lake,  would  not  visit  the  new-built  capital  of  Herod.  Such  a  reason,  how¬ 
ever,  did  exist.  Jewish  burying  places  were  always  outside  their  cities, 
never  within  them,  because  the  very  soil  of  a  cemetery  was  held  to  be 
polluted.  It  may  be  that  the  ancient  burying  place  of  Hammath  was  out¬ 
side  of  its  northern  limit;  at  all  events,  part  of  Tiberias  was  built  on  the 
ground  of  a  former  cemetery,  and  on  that  account  the  new*  city  was  an 
abomination  to  the  Israelites.  The  prejudice  against  it  was  so  strong  that 
Herod  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  inducing  people  to  live  in  it.  Stran¬ 
gers  were  brought  from  a  distance.  Persons  of  rank  were  enticed  by 
promises  of  royal  favor.  To  poorer  people  Herod  made  a  present  of 
desirable  dwellings  on  the  sole  condition  that  they  should  accept  and  live 
in  them.  Even  slaves  were  brought  there  and  set  at  liberty  in  all  other 
respects  except  that  they  were  required  to  remain  in  Tiberias.  .  “These 
measures  were  necessary,”  says  Josephus,  “because  many  sepulchers  had  to 
be  taken  away  to  make  room  for  the  city,  contrary  to  the  ancient  Jewish 
laws  which  pronounce  the  inhabitants  of  such  a  place  to  be  unclean  for 
seven  days.”  To  have  visited  Tiberias  would  have  needlessly  subjected 
our  Lord  to  the  imputation  of  being  a  contemner  of  the  law  and  a  partisan 
of  Herod  not  only  in  this  sacrilege,  but  also  in  idolatry. 

For  Tiberias,  built  on  a  polluted  site  inhabited  by  a  mixed  population 
of  Gentiles  and  renegades,  was  also  adorned  with  buildings  which  devout 
Jews  regarded  as  essentially  idolatrous.  Herod  was  an  Italian  by  educa¬ 
tion  and  preference.  His  tastes  and  habits  were  those  of  Rome.  He 
delighted  in  the  splendid  architecture  and  magnificent  amusements  to 
which  he  had  been  accustomed;  and  when  he  founded  Tiberias  and  desig¬ 
nated  it  as  the  capital  of  Galilee,  he  erected  a  palace  ornamented  with 
figures  of  animals,  “contrary”  as  Josephus  says,  “to  the  law  of  our  coun¬ 
trymen.”  It  was  in  vain  that  Herod  built  in  his  new  capital  the  finest  syna¬ 
gogue  in  Galilee.  To  say  nothing  of  the  unclean  soil  on  which  it  stood, 
it  was  surrounded  with  Gentile  and  heathen  objects  which  would  alone 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  401 

have  sufficed  to  make  it  odious.  Beside  it  were  Roman  gates  and  Grecian 
colonnades,  which,  like  the  squares  of  the  city  and  the  palace  of  Herod, 
were  adorned  with  heathen  statues;  and  not  far  off  was  an  amphitheater  for 
the  celebration  of  games  which,  to  the  Jewish  mind,  were  inseparably  con¬ 
nected  with  idolatry.  Apart  from  these  tokens  of  infidelity  to  the  religion 
of  Israel,  the  life  of  the  luxurious  monarch  and  his  sycophant  court  would 


SEA  OF  GALILEE  FROM  ABOVE  TIBERIAS. 

be  offensive  to  all  morality,  and  even  decency;  for  it  was  probably  in  the 
birth-day  revels  of  his  palace  of  Tiberias,  when  surrounded  by  “his  lords, 
high  captains  and  chief  estates  of  Galilee,”  that  the  daughter  of  Herodias 
danced  before  him  and  received  as  her  reward  “the  head  of  John  the 
Baptist  in  a  charger.”  A  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Christ  these 
things  would  be  forgotten,  and  a  writer  of  that  age  would  have  been 
almost  certain  to  lay  the  scene  of  some  part  of  the  Saviour’s  Galilean 
ministry  in  Herod’s  splendid  capital  of  Tiberias.  It  is  one  of  the  numer¬ 
ous  incidental  evidences  that  the  evangelists  lived  in  the  times  and  scenes 


402 


BETHBARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


of  which  they  wrote  that  only  one  of  them  even  mentions  the  great  and 
beautiful  city  into  which  Jesus  did  not  enter.  St.  John  (vi:  i)  merely  says 
that  the  Sea  of  Galilee  had  come  to  be  called  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  and 
that  on  one  occasion  (vi:  23)  certain  “boats  from  Tiberias”  went  to  a  place 
where  Jesus  had  been.  Only  in  these  two  connections  is  Tiberias  named 
in  the  New  Testament. 

It  is  singular  indeed  that  a  city  which,  in  its  foundation,  was  regarded 
by  the  Jews  with  absolute  abhorrence,  should  have  become  one  of  their 
four  sacred  places.  The  fact  is  doubtless  due  to  the  establishment  there 
of  the  Great  Sanhedrim,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  During  the 
Jewish  war,  Josephus,  who  was  commander-in-chief  of  the  national  forces 
in  Galilee,  fortified  Tiberias;  but  on  the  approach  of  Vespasian,  the  in¬ 
habitants  voluntarily  surrendered,  and  Vespasian  awarded  their  submission 
by  allowing  them  to  remain  undisturbed.  The  Romans  established  their 
headquarters  near  the  baths.  From  that  point  they  undertook  the  reduc¬ 
tion  of  Tarichaea,  and  defeated  the  Jews  in  a  naval  battle  on  the  placid 
waters  of  the  lake.  After  the  war,  Galilee,  which  had  been  comparatively 
undisturbed,  and  Tiberias  in  particular,  which  had  not  suffered  at  all,  be¬ 
came  the  chief  seat  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The  Sanhedrim,  which  had  been 
transferred  from  Jerusalem  to  Sepphoris,  was  again  transferred  to  Tiberias; 
and  there  the  school  of  the  Talmud  flourished.  It  was  in  Tiberias  that 
the  famous  rabbi  Judah  Hak-Kadosh  published  the  ancient  traditional  law 
called  the  Mishna.  Christianity,  too,  made  progress  at  Tiberias,  and  it  was 
there  that  St.  Jerome  learned  the  Hebrew  tongue.  Bishops  of  Tiberias  are 
mentioned  in  the  fifth  century.  In  637,  when  the  place  fell  under  the 
Arabs,  the  bishopric  disappeared.  During  the  Crusades  it  was  re-established 
under  the  Archbishop  of  Nazareth  as  Metropolitan.  Tiberias  long  re¬ 
mained  under  Christian  rule;  but,  after  the  battle  of  Hattin,  the  Countess 
of  Tripoli  was  compelled  to  surrender  the  castle  to  the  Moslems,  and  in 
their  hands  it  has  ever  since  remained. 

For  about  two  miles  and  a  quarter  northward  from  the  baths,  there 
lies  along  the  shore  an  undulating  plain,  between  the  water  and  the  steep 
hills  on  the  west.  Tubariyeh  lies  at  the  northern  end  of  this  plain,  so  that 
the  ancient  Tiberias  must  have  occupied  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  interven¬ 
ing  space.  It  probably  did  not,  however,  cover  the  ground  of  the  present 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  403 

Tubariyeh.  The  walls  of  the  modern  town  were  built  during  the  last  cen¬ 
tury.  They  are  now  dilapidated.  On  the  south  the  town  is  entirely  un¬ 
enclosed.  The  spacious  old  castle  is  deserted,  except  by  a  mongrel 
sort  of  military  police.  There  is  a  Greek  church  in  the  possession  of  the 
Latins.  It  dates  from  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  but  was  remodeled  in 
1869.  It  is  dedicated  to  St.  Peter,  in  honor  of  the  miraculous  draught  of 
fishes  which  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in  its  vicinity  (John  xxi:6-n),  but 
which  could  not  have  occurred  there.  The  synagogue  is  on  the  shore  of 
the  lake.  It  is  a  vaulted  building,  unquestionably  of  great  age,  supported 
by  columns,  and  has  the  appearance  of  a  Greek  temple.  The  Jews  of  the 


TIBERIAS. 

town  have  none  of  the  learning  for  which  their  predecessors  were  once  cele¬ 
brated,  and  the  most  observable  thing  about  them  is  their  large  black  hats. 
The  steep  hill  behind  the  town  is  full  of  caves,  some  of  which  are  100  feet 
long.  Many  of  them  are  plastered  and  have  other  unmistakable  evidences 
of  former  occupation,  as  habitations  of  men.  Their  present  occupants  are 
wild  beasts,  such  as  jackals,  hyenas  and  foxes.  A  few  palm  trees  still  bear 
witness  to  the  former  fertility  of  the  soil,  but  even  they  are  degenerate,  and 
bear  no  comparison  with  the  palms  of  Egypt,  either  in  size  or  in  beauty. 
In  the  great  earthquake  of  1837,  in  which  Safed  was  almost  ruined,  the 


404 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


whole  town  of  Tubariyeh  was  lowered  toward  the  south,  and  the  mole  or 
pier,  reaching  out  into  the  lake,  was  actually  bent  and  almost  shrivelled. 

Tubariyeh  is  the  only  town  remaining  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of 
Tiberias.  It  has  a  population  of  about  3,000,  one-half  of  whom  are  Jews, 
many  of  them  immigrants  from  Poland.  It  is  a  wretched  and  filthy  place. 
Lying,  as  it  does,  nearly  700  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  its 
climate  is  very  warm,  and  the  hills  rising  behind  it  on  the  west,  to  a  height 
of  1,000  feet,  shut  off  the  free  circulation  of  the  air  by  which  its  excessive 
heat  might  be  modified.  Dr.  Thomson  says  that  when  he  was  encamped 
near  the  baths  the  thermometer  stood  at  100  degrees  about  midnight.  In 
summer  the  place  is  exceedingly  unhealthy,  severe  forms  of  ague  prevail¬ 
ing  throughout  that  season.  It  is  infested  with  vermin,  and  swarms  with 
mosquitoes  of  enormous  size.  To  Dr.  Geikie,  the  fleas  were  the  greatest 
torment.  That  learned  gentleman,  who  has  courageously  addressed  him¬ 
self  to  so  many  difficult  problems,  says:  ‘‘How  they  all  get  a  living  I  can¬ 
not  conjecture!”  Dr.  Thomson,  after  saying  that  no  town  in  Syria  is  so 
filthy  as  Tiberias,  exclaims,  “What  can  induce  human  beings  to  live  in  such 
a  place  ?” 

At  the  extreme  south  of  the  lake,  and  on  the  right  side  of  the  Jordan 
at  its  place  of  exit,  is  a  small  peninsula  now  called  Kerak.  It  is  the 
Tarichaea  of  Josephus,  and,  probably,  the  still  more  ancient  Rakkath  of 
Joshua,  which  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  Hammath  (Josh,  xix:  35). 
It  was  once  almost  or  quite  an  island,  connected  with  the  mainland  by  a 
long  Roman  bridge,  which  is  now  a  causeway,  and  under  arches  of  which, 
in  spring-time,  the  water  of  the  Jordan  still  flows.  Tarichaea  is  not  men¬ 
tioned  in  Scripture,  but  it  was  a  place  of  undoubted  importance.  The  soil 
is  full  of  fragments  of  pottery  and  mosaic  tiles,  for  the  manufacture  of 
which  the  town  was  celebrated.  In  the  Jewish  war,  Tarichaea  was  strongly 
fortified  by  Josephus,  and  its  isolation  from  the  mainland  was  completed 
by  a  ditch  which  was  partly  artificial.  It  made  a  stout  defence,  but  was 
taken  and  destroyed  by  Titus.  It  was  there  that  Josephus  collected  two 
hundred  and  fifty  ships  to  attack  Tiberias,  and  not  far  off  that  the  great 
naval  battle  was  fought,  to  which  we  have  already  referred.  As  Tarichaea 
is  the  only  harbor  on  the  whole  lake,  it  must  have  been  an  important  place 
of  refuge  for  ships  overtaken  in  a  storm.  Nevertheless,  Dr.  Thomson 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


405 


says,  that  he  has  seen  the  lake  “lashed  into  fury  for  thirty  consecutive 
hours,  bya  tempest  that  would  have  wrecked  such  a  fleet  as  that  of  Josephus, 
had  it  been  exposed  to  its  violence;  and  the  waves  ran  high — high  enough 
to  have  filled  or  ‘covered  the  ship,’  as  Matthew  has  it  (Matt,  viii:  24).” 

We  have  now  glanced  at  all  the  notable  places  on  the  western  shore 
of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  We  shall  next  look  at  the  comparatively  few  places 


FEEDING  OF  THE  MULTITUDES.  (JOHN  VI :  I  — 1 4.  ) 


of  interest  on  the  northern  and  eastern  sides,  beginning  where  the  Jordan 
enters  the  lake. 

1  wo  miles  back  from  the  shore,  and  in  the  dead  level  of  a  rich  allu¬ 
vial  plain,  through  which  the  turbid  and  muddy  waters  of  the  Jordan  roll 
rapidly  to  the  lake,  once  stood  a  small  village  called  Bcthsaida.  It  was 
enlarged  and  adorned  by  Philip  the  Tetrarch,  who  gave  to  it  the  name  of 
Bethsaida  Julias,  in  honor  of  the  daughter  of  the  emperor.  The  mound 


406 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


of  its  remains,  Et  Tell ,  marks  the  spot  near  which  our  Saviour  fed  the  five 
thousand.  Bethsaida  Julias  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  Beth¬ 
saida  on  the  western  shore;  for  until  the  existence  of  two  places  of  the 
same  name  on  opposite  sides  of  the  lake  had  been  ascertained,  the  story 
of  that  miracle  furnished  one  of  the  knottiest  difficulties  of  the  gospels. 
St.  Luke  (ix:  10-17)  says,  that  the  scene  of  the  transaction  was  a  desert 
place  "belonging  to  the  city  called  Bethsaida.”  St.  Mark  (vi:  31-53)  says, 
that  after  it  had  occurred,  our  Saviour  “constrained  his  disciples  to  get 
into  the  ship  and  to  go  to  the  other  side  before  Him  unto  Bethsaida.”  As 
they  were  crossing  the  lake,  a  great  storm  arose,  and  when  they  had  given 
themselves  up  for  lost,  Jesus  came  walking  on  the  water  and  stilled  the 
waves.  Then,  according  to  St.  Mark,  and  also  St.  Matthew  (xiv:  15-34), 
“when  they  had  passed  over,  they  came  into  the  land  of  Gennesareth.” 
St.  John  says  (vi:5-2i),  that  “they  went  over  the  sea  toward  Capernaum,” 
and  that  after  the  stilling  of  the  tempest,  “immediately  the  ship  was  at 
the  land  whither  they  went.”  Comparing  these  accounts,  it  appears  that 
whereas,  according  to  St.  Luke,  the  event  of  the  miracle  took  place  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Bethsaida ,  according  to  St.  Mark,  He  sent  them  from  the 
scene  of  the  Miracle  to  Bethsaida.  According  to  St.  John  the  disciples 
landed  at  Capernaum,  the  place  for  which  they  had  sailed;  and,  according 
to  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  they  came  to  “the  land  of  Gennesareth.”  If 
we  remember  that,  besides  Bethsaida  Julias  on  the  northeast  of  the  lake, 
there  was  another  Bethsaida,  the  home  of  Peter,  Andrew  and  Philip 
(John  i:  44),  and  that  this  second  Bethsaida  was  in  “the  land  of  Gennesa¬ 
reth”  (or  Capernaum),  there  is  here  no  contradiction  whatever.  Unless  we 
do  remember  it,  there  is,  to  say  the  least,  an  inexplicable  discrepancy. 
We  may  also  observe  that  these  accounts,  taken  concurrently,  go  to  show 
that  in  the  language  of  the  Evangelists,  Capernaum  is  the  equivalent  of 
Gennesareth.  Regarded  as  a  plain  it  was  Gennesareth;  regarded  as  a 
town  or  city,  it  was  Capernaum;  but  the  phrase  “Land  of  Gennesareth” 
may  have  been  loosely  used  to  designate  the  district  lying  north  and  south 
of  the  plain,  as  well  as  the  plain  itself.  Thus  every  difficulty  disappears, 
and  it  also  appears,  that  the  geographical  language  of  the  Evangelists  is 
identical  with  that  of  Josephus,  a  writer  of  their  own  time.  Had  the 
gospel  been  written  a  century  later,  as  some  critics  think,  they  would 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


407 


probably  not  have  applied  the  word  Capernaum  to  the  district  of  Genne- 
sareth, 


To  the  southeast  of  Et  Tell  lies  the  Plain  of  Batihah,  in  some  part  of 
which,  or  in  the  heights  to  the  eastward,  the  miracle  of  the  feeding  of  the 


THE  LAST  APPEARANCE  OF  JESUS  TO  HIS  DISCIPLES  AT  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


(john  xxi:  1-4. ) 

five  thousand  took  place;  and  in  the  lower  part  of  the  plain  are  ruins  to 
which  the  Arabs  give  the  name  of  Mesadiyeh.  These  ruins  have  been 
supposed  to  be  those  of  Bethsaida,  and  are  so  marked  in  some  maps. 

About  one-third  of  the  way  from  the  north  of  the  lake,  a  wady  called 
IVady  Semakh  breaks  through  the  cliffs,  and  on  its  southern  side  are  the 
ruins  of  Gergesa ,  now  called  Khersa.  As  this  is  probably  the  “country 
of  the  Gergesenes”  in  which  St.  Matthew  places  the  scene  of  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  swine  (Matt,  viii :  28),  while  St.  Mark  (v:  1)  and  St.  Luke  (viii  126) 


408. 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


call  it  the  “country  of  the  Gadarines,”  it  is  well  to  observe  that  either  name 
might  be  appropriate,  if  the  district  of  Gadaritis  at  that  time  included  the 
smaller  town  of  Gergesa.  In  the  near  neighborhood,  there  are  several 
spots  which  would  correspond  with  the  accounts  of  the  Evangelists.  Mr. 
Macgregor  remarks,  that  between  Wady  Semakh  and  Wady  Fik  (about 
three  miles  below)  “there  are  at  least  four  distinct  localities,  where  every 
feature  in  the  Scripture  account  of  this  incident  may  be  found  m  combina¬ 
tion.  Above  them  are  rocks  with  caves  in  them,  very  suitable  for  tombs, 
and,  further  down  there  is  ample  space  for  tombs,  built  on  sloping  ground 

_ a  form  of  sepulture  far  more  prevalent  in  Scripture  times,  than  we  are 

apt  to  suppose.  A  verdant  sward  is  here,  with  bulbous  roots  on  which 
swine  might  feed;  and  on  this  I  observed  what  is  an  unusual  sight,  a  very 
large  herd  of  oxen,  horses,  camels,  sheep  and  goats,  all  feeding  together.” 
Within  a  mile  of  Khersa  is  a  spot  which  seems  particularly  well  to  corre¬ 
spond  with  the  circumstances  of  the  miracle.  At  that  place,  says  Sir  C. 
Wilson,  “the  hills,  which  everywhere  else  on  the  eastern  side  are  recessed 
from  half  to  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  water’s  edge,  approach 
within  forty  feet  of  it.  They  do  not  terminate  abruptly,  but  there  is  a 
steep,  even  slope,  which  we  would  identify  with  the  ‘steep  place’  down 
which  the  herd  of  swine  ‘ran  violently  into  the  sea,’  and  so  were  choked.” 

Three  miles  below  Gergesa,  as  we  have  said,  is  Wady  Fik ,  and  a  little 
way  up  the  wady,  on  the  crest  of  the  precipice  which  encloses  it,  is  Kulat 
el  Hiisii ,  the  ancient  Gamala ,  which  made  a  terrible  resistance  to  Vespa¬ 
sian,  and  inflicted  immense  loss  on  its  besiegers  before  it  could  be  captured 
by  the  Romans.  At  the  head  of  the  wady  is  the  town  of  Fik ,  the  ancient 
Aphek ,  where  Benhadad,  of  Assyria,  was  completely  overthrown  by  King 
Ahab  (iKings  xx:  26-34).  Between  Wady  Fik  and  the  outlet  of  the  Jordan 
are  remains  of  several  towns  and  villages,  notably  of  Es  Semakh ,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  the  ancient  Hippos ,  a  place  of  such  importance  as  to  have 
been  reckoned  as  one  of  the  cities  of  Decapolis,  and  to  have  given  the 
name  of  Hippene  to  the  district  lying  about  it.  “I  have  spent  a  few  days,” 
says  Dr.  Thomson,  “encamped  on  the  beach  below  this  village,  and  had 
ample  time  to  explore  the  southern  shore  of  the  lake,  as  well  as  the  out-go 
of  the  Jordan.  In  the  banks  above  the  beach  are  innumerable  nests  of 
the  wurwar,  the  beautiful  green  and  blue  bee-eater.  The  beach  is  covered 


I 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  409 

with  pebbles  of  flint,  jasper,  chalcedony  and  agate,  and  several  varie¬ 
ties  of  fresh-water  shells.  But,  though  situated  close  to  the  beautiful  Sea 
of  Galilee,  and  with  scenery  around  it  in  many  respects  the  most  interest¬ 
ing  in  this  world,  nothing  would  tempt  one  to  live  in  the  miserable  hamlet 
of  Es  Semakh.” 

Thus  we  have  viewed  the  shores  of  the  once  lovely  Lake  of  Chinnereth; 
and  desolate  as  they  now  are,  it  would  take  but  little  to  restore  them  to 
prosperity.  A  railway,  which  could  be  easily  built  from  Tiberias  south¬ 
ward  along  the  Jordan  Valley  to  Beisan  (Bethshean),  and  thence  across 
the  Plain  of  Esdraelon  to 
Acre,  would  at  once  make 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  the 
center  of  a  profitable 
commerce,  and  its  shores 
would  soon  again  bloom 
under  the  hand  of  the 
husbandman  and  vine¬ 
dresser.  When  the  heavy 
hand  of  the  “unspeak¬ 
able  Turk”  is  removed,  it 
will  be  only  a  question  of 
time — there  is  no  question  of  the  certainty  of  the  event — that  all  parts  of 
Palestine  will  be  once  more  opened  to  the  uses  of  civilized  life.  Already 
the  improvement  has  begun,  for  even  the  Turk  cannot  wholly  resist  the 
forces  of  the  age.  But  the  beginning  is  still  small.  When  the  “fullness 
of  time”  shall  come,  no  man  living  can  foresee  the  new  beauty  in  which 
the  Beautiful  Land  shall  again  be  clothed. 

But  if  no  such  time  were  ever  to  come,  the  shores  of  Lake  Tiberias 
would  still  be  forever  sacred  to  mankind  in  its  memories  of  Jesus.  That 
lake  was  chosen  of  God  Himself,  and  honored  above  all  seas  of  the 
earth,  in  a  sense  which  the  rabbis  little  dreamed.  The  men,  the  fields,  the 
valleys  round  it,  are  immortalized  by  their  association  with  the  Saviour. 
There  were  the  vineyards,  on  the  hill  slopes,  round  which  their  lord  planted 
a  hedge,  and  in  which  he  built  a  watch-tower,  and  dug  a  wine-press  (Matt, 
xxi:  33).  There  were  the  sunny  hills,  on  which  the  old  wine  had  grown, 


REMAINS  OF  ROMAN  BRIDGE  AT  SEMAKH. 


4io 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


and  the  new  was  growing,  for  which  the  house-holder  would  take  care  to 
provide  the  new  leather  bottles  (Luke  v.37).  The  Plain  of  Gennesareth 
was  the  enameled  meadow,  on  which,  in  spring,  ten  thousand  lilies  were 
robed  in  more  than  the  glory  of  Solomon  (Luke  xii :  27-28),  and  where,  in 
winter,  the  grass  was  cast  into  the  oven  (Matt.  vi:3o).  It  was  on  such 
pastures  as  those  around,  that  the  shepherd  left  the  ninety-and-nine  sheep 
to  seek,  in  the  mountains,  the  one  that  was  lost,  and  bring  it  back,  when 
found,  on  his  shoulders  rejoicing  (Luke  xv:4).  The  ravens  that  have 
neither  storehouse  nor  barn  (Luke  xii:  24),  daily  sailed  over  from  the  cliffs  of 
Arbela,  to  seek  their  food  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  and  from  the  same  cliffs, 
from  time  to  time,  flew  forth  the  hawks,  to  make  the  terrified  hen  gather 
her  chickens  under  her  wings  (Matt:  xxiii:  37).  The  orchards  were  there 
in  which  the  fig-tree  grew,  on  which  the  dresser  of  the  vineyard  in  three 
years,  found  no  fruit  (Luke  xiii:  7),  and  in  which  the  grain  of  mustard  seed 
grew  into  so  great  a  tree  that  the  fowls  of  the  air  lodged  in  its  branches 
(Luke  xiii:  19).  Across  the  lake  rose  the  hills  of  Gaulonitus,  which  the  idly- 
busy  rabbis  watched  for  signs  of  the  weather.  A  murky  red,  seen  above 
them  in  the  morning,  was  a  text  for  these  sky-prophets  to  predict  “foul 
weather  to-day,  for  the  sky  is  red  and  lowering”  (Matt.  xvi:3),  and  it  was 
when  the  sun  sank,  red  and  glowing,  behind  the  hill  in  the  west,  that  the 
solemn  gossips,  returning  from  their  many  prayers  in  the  synagogue,  made 
sure  that  it  would  be  “fair  weather  to-morrow”  (Matt.  xvi:2).  It  was  when 
the  sea-cloud  was  seen  driving  over  the  hill-tops  from  Ptolemais  and  Car¬ 
mel,  that  neighbors  warned  each  other  that  a  shower  was  coming  (Luke 
xii:  54),  and  the  clouds  sailing  north,  toward  Safed  and  Hermon,  were  the 
accepted  earnest  of  coming  heat  (Luke  xii:  55).  The  daily  business  of  Cap¬ 
ernaum,  itself,  supplied  many  of  the  illustrations  so  frequently  introduced 
into  the  discourses  of  Jesus.  He  might  see  in  the  bazaar  of  the  town,  or 
in  the  street,  the  rich  traveling  merchant,  who  exchanged  a  heavy  load  of 
Babylonian  carpets  for  the  one  lustrous  pearl  (Matt,  xiii :  46)  that  had, 
perhaps,  found  its  way  to  the  lake  from  distant  Ceylon.  Fishermen,  and 
publicans,  and  dressers  of  vineyards  passed  and  re-passed  each  moment. 
Over  in  Julias,  the  favorite  town  of  the  Tetrarch  Philip;  below,  in  Tiberias, 
at  the  court  of  Antipas,  lived  the  magnates,  who  delighted  to  be  called 
“gracious  lords,”  and  walked  in  silk  robes  (Luke  xxii:25).  The  young 


- 


BETHABARA,  CANA,  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE.  41 1 

Salome  lived  in  the  one  town;  her  mother,  Herodias,  in  the  other;  and  the 
intercourse  between  the  two  courts  could  not  have  escaped  the  all-observ¬ 
ing  eye  of  Jesus,  as  he  moved  about  Capernaum. 

On  the  occasion  of  our  Saviour’s  first  visit  to  Capernaum  in  company 
with  his  mother  and  his  brethren,  all  these  events  and  instructions  and 
observations  were  still  to  come.  As  a  general  studies  the  field  of  future 
campaigns,  so,  perhaps,  Jesus  gazed  on  the  scenes  of  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  ministry  upon  which  He  was  entering.  But  He  took  no  more 
than  a  glance  at  it.  “He  continued  there  not  many  days.”  Either  return¬ 
ing  to  Nazareth,  or  going  directly  down  the  Jordan  Valley,  He  set  His 
face  toward  Jerusalem  to  attend  the  first  Passover  of  the  period  of  His 
ministry. 


> 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 

First  Passover  of  the  Ministry — Return  to  Galilee,  through  Samaria — Anathoth,  the  Home  of  Abiathar 
— Nob — Slaughter  of  the  Priests  by  Doeg — Grass  on  the  House-tops — Gibeah  of  Saul— Rejection 
of  Saul — Death  of  Agag — Parting  of  Samuel  and  Saul — A  Cruel  Retribution — Rizpah— Ramah, 
the  Birth  Place  and  Burial  Place  of  Samuel— Wady  Suweinit — Geba — Michmash — Rimmon — 
Ophra,  the  “City  of  Ephraim” — Ai — Its  Name  Strangely  Preserved — First  Battle  of  Ai — Destruc¬ 
tion  of  Ai — Battle  of  Michmash — Advance  of  Shennacheric  on  Jerusalem — His  Route  Described 
by  Isaiah— Prophecy  of  the  Messiah— Ataroth-Adar — Beeroth,  a  Halting  Place  for  Caravans— 
Supposed  to  be  the  Place  where  Jesus  was  Missed  by  His  Parents — Bethel — Altar  of  Abraham— 
Separation  from  Lot— View  of  the  Patriarchs — Vision  of  Job — His  Altar  at  Bethel — Bethel,  a 
National  Sanctuary — Place  of  a  Tabernacle — Made  a  Sanctuary  of  Idolatry  by  Jeroboam — School 
of  the  Prophets — A  Royal  Residence — The  Samaritans — Devastation  of  Josiah — Modern  Beitin — 
Gophna — Shiloh — Discovered  by  Dr.  Robinson — A  Skilful  Scientific  Exploration — Lebonah— 
The  Tabernacle  at  Shiloh— Samuel — Eli — Loss  of  the  Ark — Tabernacle  Removed  to  Nob — Sub¬ 
sequent  Desolation  of  Shiloh — Advantages  as  a  Sanctuary — Present  Appearance — Akrabbim. 

HETHER  our  Lord  returned  to  Nazareth,  after  His 
visit  to  Capernaum,  we  do  not  know.  We  next 
hear  of  His  visit  to  Jerusalem  to  celebrate  the  first 
Passover  of  His  ministry.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
He  cleansed  the  Temple  of  the  hucksters  who  pro- 
fained  it  with  their  sordid  presence  (John  ii:  13-17). 
When  He  was  asked  to  prove  the  authority  by 
which  He  undertook  such  a  work,  He  made  that 
mysterious  answer  which  His  disciples  remembered 
after  His  resurrection:  “Destroy  this  temple,  and  in 
three  days  I  will  raise  it  up!”  Yet  He  did  not  utterly  refuse  to  show  some 
signs  of  His  power,  though  He  certainly  did  use  reserve  in  proclaiming  His 
mission  (John  ii  123-25).  His  chief  recorded  discourse  was  with  Nicodemus, 
who  came  to  Him  by  night  (John  iii);  and  when  it  began  to  be  noised 
abroad  that  His  disciples  were  baptizing  more  converts  than  John  the 
Baptist,  He  immediately  left  Judea  and  returned  into  Galilee,  not  wiehmg, 
we  may  suppose,  that  there  should  be  even  the  appearance  of  a  rivalry  be¬ 
tween  Himself  and  His  great  forerunner  (John  ivn-3). 

“Then,”  says  St.  John  (verse  4),  “He  must  needs  go  through  Samaria.” 


412 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA, 


4i3 


The  necessity,  however,  was  not  of  a  physical  or  geographical  character, 
since,  as  we  have  seen,  the  usual  way  from  Judea  to  Galilee  was  by  the 
Jordan  Ghor.  The  necessity  was  of  a  spiritual  sort.  Jesus  had  now  set 
out  on  His  personal  mission,  and  from  the  first  He  wished  it  to  be  under¬ 
stood  that  His  was  no  narrow  or  exclusive  gospel.  It  was  intended  for  all 
mankind,  and  in  no  more  striking  manner  could  He  proclaim  that  fact  than 


CHRIST  CLEANSING  THE  TEMPLE.  (  JOHN  II :  1 5.) 


by  bearing  its  glad  tidings  to  those  outcasts  of  Israel,  the  despised  Samari¬ 
tans.  More  than  one  soul  among  those  heretics  was  hungering  and  thirst¬ 
ing  for  a  spiritual  food  and  drink  which  He  alone  could  supply;  and  to 
reach  those  souls,  Jesus  “must  needs  go  through  Samaria.”  It  is  the  line 
of  that  journey  that  we  are  now  to  follow.  In  all  the  wanderings  of  the 
Saviour’s  footsteps  there  is  none  more  full  of  local  interest  and  historical 


414 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


romance  than  that  which  led  from  Jerusalem  to  the  “city  of  Samaria, 
which  is  called  Sychar,  near  to  the  parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob  gave  to  his 
son  Joseph”  (John  iv.5).  We  shall  not,  of  course,  confine  our  observations 
to  the  comparatively  few  places  of  importance  through  which  He  actually 
passed,  but  rather  take  a  bird’s-eye  view  of  the  country  on  either  side  of 
the  main  road,  noting  the  spots  of  which  the  Saviour  Himself  could  hardly 
help  thinking  as  He  came  near  to  each  of  them. 

On  his  right,  as  He  left  Jerusalem  was  Anathoth ,  now  called  Anata> 
three  miles  northeast  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  In  the  earlier  days  of 
Israel  Anathoth  was  a  priestly  city  (Josh,  xxi:  18).  It  was  the  home  of 
the  priest  Abiathar  who  conspired  to  put  Adonijah  on  the  throne  instead 
of  Solomon,  and  whom  Solomon,  while  sparing  his  life  for  the  sake  of  his 
priestly  office,  banished  from  the  sanctuary  with  the  stern  command,  “Get 
thee  to  Anathoth  unto  thine  own  fields.  Thou  art  worthy  of  death,  but  I 
will  not  at  this  time  put  thee  to  death,  because  thou  barest  the  ark  of  God 
before  David  my  father,  and  because  thou  hast  been  afflicted  in  all 
wherein  my  father  was  afflicted.”  Anathoth  was  long  occupied  by  the 
priests  of  Israel.  After  the  building  of  the  Temple  it  would  be  one  of 
the  most  convenient  and  desirable  of  all  the  towns  belonging  to  those  who 
were  appointed  to  minister  in  the  sanctuary.  More  than  three  hundred 
years  after  the  time  of  Solomon,  Jeremiah,  the  prophetic  poet  of  Israel, 
was  one  “of  the  priests  that  were  in  Anathoth”  (Jer.  i:  1). 

At  some  spot  in  that  same  plain,  or  perhaps,  as  Dr.  Robinson  thinks, 
somewhere  upon  the  ridge  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  northeast  of  the  city, 
but  certainly  at  least  within  sight  of  Jerusalem,  once  stood  another  priestly 
city  called  Nob,  where  the  tabernacle  stood  for  a  time  during  its  wander¬ 
ings,  before  a  home  was  provided  for  the  ark  in  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
(1  Sam.  xxi:  1).  It  was  there  that  Ahimelech  the  priest  gave  some  of  the 
“hallowed  bread”  of  the  tabernacle  to  David  in  his  necessity  when  fleeing 
before  the  face  of  Saul.  Unhappily  the  gift  was  observed  by  Doeg,  an 
Edomitish  servant  of  Saul,  who  reported  it  to  his  master.  Filled  wit 
fury,  Saul  summoned  Ahimelech  and  his  assistant  priests  before  him,  and 
charged  them  with  treason.  The  brave  priest  denied  the  treason,  but 
spoke  manfully  for  David  as  the  most  faithful  of  Saul’s  subjects.  The 
infuriated  King  was  inexorable.  “Thou  shalt  die,  Ahimelech,”  he  said. 


GIBEAH  FROM  MICHMASH. 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


40 


“thou  and  all  thy  father’s  house.”  Even  at  the  King’s  command  the 
executioners  refused  to  lift  their  hands  against  the  Lord’s  priests;  but 
Doeg,  the  Edomitish  spy,  fulfilled  that  office.  “On  that  day  he  slew  four 
score  and  five  persons  that  did  wear  a  linen  ephod;  and  Nob,  the  city  of 
priests,  smote  he  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  both  men  and  women,  chil¬ 
dren  and  sucklings,  and  oxen,  and  asses,  and  sheep,  with  the  edge  of  the 
sword.”  Only  one  man  of  all  the  priestly  line  escaped,  Abiathar,  a  son  of 
the  faithful  Ahimelech,  the  same  Abiathar  whom  Solomon  afterward 
deposed  from  his  sacred  office  and  banished  to  “his  own  fields”at  Anathoth. 

The  site  of  Nob  has  not  been  ascertained.  The  present  Anata  is  a 
poor  village  with  only  about  a  dozen  small  dwelling  houses,  though  the 
cultivated  fields,  and  fig-trees,  and  olive-trees  are  perhaps  a  remnant  of 
the  culture  of  the  priests  who  once  dwelt  there;  and  the  remains  of  walls 
and  solid  old  foundations  tell  of  a  prosperity  that  has  long  since  passed 
away.  On  the  flat  roofs  of  the  houses  now  occupied  the  wild  grass  grows, 
reminding  one  of  the  Psalmist’s  malediction: 

“Let  them  all  be  confounded  and  turned  back  that  hate  Zion! 

Let  them  be  as  the  grass  upon  the  house-tops, 

Which  withereth  afore  it  groweth  up: 

Wherewith  the  mower  filleth  not  his  hand, 

Nor  he  that  bindeth  the  sheaves  his  bosom!”  (Psa.  cxxix:  5-7.) 

The  first  city  which  our  Saviour  would  pass  on  this  journey  was 
Gibeah  of  Saul ,  also  called  Gibeah  of  Benjamin ,  situated  on  what  is  now  a 
dreary  and  desolate  hill  called  Tuleil  el  Ful,  the  Hill  of  Beans.  It  is  of 
conical  shape,  and  roughly  terraced,  but  its  sides  are  bare  and  treeless, 
and  its  top  is  covered  with  ruins  which  are  hardly  more  than  a  confused 
heap  of  stones.  On  this  rough  hill,  then  doubtless  cultivated  from  base  to 
summit,  was  enacted  the  horrid  tragedy  of  the  Levite  and  his  concubine 
related  in  Judges  xix  and  xx;  and  there,  about  a  hundred  years  later  was 
the  dwelling  place  of  Saul,  the  first  king  of  Israel  (1  Sam.  x:  26).  The 
simple  manners  of  the  time  are  illustrated  by  the  circumstance  that,  when 
his  subjects  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  sent  to  tell  their  king  how  they 
were  threatened  with  subjugation  or  mutilation  by  the  Ammonites,  the  mes¬ 
sengers  found  Saul  coming  “after  the  herd  out  of  the  field”  (1  Sam.  xi:  5). 
Again  and  again  throughout  the  checquered  story  of  that  unhappy  monarch 


4 1 8 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


we  read  of  Gibeah,  and  it  was  not  far  from  Gibeah  that  he  had  his  last 
interview  with  the  aged  prophet  Samuel,  by  whom  he  had  been  anointed 
to  his  kingly  office.  It  was  in  vain  that  Saul  pleaded  for  pardon;  the 
prophet  refused  to  grant  him  absolution.  “Thou  hast  rejected  the  word 
of  the  Lord”,  said  Samuel,  “and  the  Lord  hath  rejected  thee.”  At  Saul’s 
urgent  entreaty,  he  yielded  only  so  far  as  to  refrain  from  dishonoring  the 
king  before  his  subjects,  and  therefore  accompanied  Saul  to  his  camp  at 
Gilgal.  But  he  exacted  a  price  for  his  complaisance.  One  of  Saul’s 
offences  had  been  that  he  had  spared  the  life  of  Agag,  king  of  the  Amale- 
kites,  whom  he  had  taken  prisoner  in  battle.  “Then,”  said  Samuel,  “bring 
hither  to  me  Agag,  the  king  of  the  Amalekites.”  And  Agag  came  to  him 
delicately;  and  Agag  said,  “Surely  the  bitterness  of  death  is  past!”  And 
Samuel  said,  “As  thy  sword  hath  made  women  childless,  so  shall  thy 
mother  be  childless  among  women.  And  Samuel  hewed  Agag  in  pieces 
before  the  Lord  in  Gilgal.”  Then  the  king  and  the  prophet  parted  to 
meet  no  more  in  life,  though  the  voice  of  Samuel  was  once  again  to  reach 
the  king’s  ear  from  the  grave  with  words  of  doom  and  irretrievable  defeat. 
“Samuel  went  up  to  Ramah,  and  Saul  went  up  to  his  house  in  Gibeah  of 
Saul.”  Yet  the  stern  minister  of  God  grieved  for  the  goodly  kinglike  man 
who  had  thrown  his  crown  away.  “Samuel  came  no  more  to  see  Saul 
until  the  day  of  his  death;  nevertheless  Samuel  mourned  for  Saul.” 
(i  Sam.  xv.) 

After  Saul’s  death,  his  home  at  Gibeah  was  the  scene  of  a  fearful  re¬ 
tribution.  In  some  hour  of  outrage,  he  had  put  to  death  some  of  the 
Gibeonites,  descendants  of  the  men  who  had  secured  a  league  of  amity  and 
protection  from  Joshua.  On  David’s  accession  they  demanded  vengeance. 
They  would  have  no  recompense  for  their  wrong.  They  refused  to  take 
either  silver  or  gold  from  the  treasury  of  their  enemy.  They  insisted  that 
the  violation  of  their  treaty  with  Israel  should  be  atoned  by  the  law  of 
retaliation,  and  that  seven  of  Saul’s  surviving  sons  should  be  taken  and 
hanged  in  Gibeah.  David  yielded  to  their  demand,  stipulating,  however, 
that  the  sons  of  his  friend  Jonathan  should  not  be  sacrificed.  The  deed 
was  done;  and  of  the  sons  of  Saul  seven  “fell  all  together;  they  were  put 
to  death  in  the  days  of  harvest,  in  the  first  days,  in  the  days  of  barley  har¬ 
vest.”  Then  followed  one  of  the  saddest  scenes  in  history,  when  the  mother 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA.  419 

of  two  of  the  hapless  victims,  “Rizpah,  daughter  of  Aiah,  took  sackcloth, 
and  spread  it  for  her  upon  the  rock,  from  the  beginning  of  harvest  until 
water  dropped  upon  them  out  of  heaven,  and  suffered  neither  the  birds  of 
heaven  to  rest  upon  them  by  day,  nor  beasts  of  the  field  by  night.”  The 
woeful  spectacle  of  the  mother,  lying  on  sackcloth  day  after  day  and  night 
after  night,  guarding  the  bodies  of  her  gibbetted  sons,  might  well  move 


THE  REJECTION  OF  SAUL.  (i.  SAM.  XV:  I3-23.) 


the  hearts  of  the  beholders.  David  did  not  war  against  the  dead,  and 
when  he  heard  of  it,  he  went  and  took  the  bones  of  Saul  and  Jonathan 
from  the  place  where  friendly  hands  had  laid  them;  and  with  the  bones  of 
Saul  and  Jonathan  they  took  the  bones  of  them  that  had  been  hanged, 
and  honorably  buried  all  together  in  the  sepulcher  of  Saul's  father  Kish 
(2  Sam.  xxi:  i  —  1 4).  In  these  stories  of  Gibeah,  how  strangely  does  the 


420 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


hardness  of  the  law  contrast  with  the  gentleness  of  the  gospel  of  Christ! 
Though  Samuel  was  a  prophet,  he  had  never  learned  to  say,  “Go,  and  sin 
no  more!”  And  though  David  was  a  law-abiding  king,  he  had  not  learned 
that  there  is  any  nobler  law  than  that  which  says,  “An  eye  for  an  eye,  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth,  life  for  life!’ 

A  little  way  beyond  Gibeah  of  Saul  is  the  modern  village  of  Er  Ram , 
inhabited  by  about  fifteen  families.  It  is  the  ancient  Ramah  (i  Kings 
xv :  17),  which  was  a  border  fortress  between  the  kingdoms  of  Judah  and 
Israel.  Er  Ram  would  be  more  important  if  we  could  be  assured  that  it  is 
on  the  site  of  Ramathaim-Zophim ,  the  birthplace  and  home  and  final  rest¬ 
ing  place  of  the  prophet  Samuel  (1  Sam.  i:  1),  but  as  no  less  than  seven 
other  modern  towns  and  villages  are  put  forward  with  more  or  less  proba¬ 
bility  for  that  honor,  we  need  not  pause  to  investigate  their  respective 
claims.  On  the  whole,  however,  there  is  as  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
Er  Ram  as  of  any  other. 

If  we  turn  aside  from  the  main  road  and  proceed  northeast  through 
Er  Ram,  we  come  in  less  than  three  miles  to  the  edge  of  a  deep  wady, 
called  Wady  Suweinit,  which  is  really  the  western  end  of  the  Wady  Kelt, 
or  Brook  Cherith,  of  which  we  have  already  heard  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Jericho.  Though  the  Wady  Suweinit  is  not  so  grandly  terrible  as  the 
Wady  Kelt,  it  is  precipitously  steep,  and  on  its  very  brink  is  Jeba,  the 
ancient  Geba ,  picturesquely  seated  on  the  summit  of  a  terraced  hill,  oppo¬ 
site  to  a  village  on  the  other  side,  the  name  of  which  is  Mukmas ,  the 
ancient  Michmash.  Geba  is  often  confounded  with  Gibeah.  It  is  famous 
as  the  scene  of  Jonathan’s  exploit  against  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  xiii  13). 
“From  its  summit,”  says  Dean  Stanley,  “is  seen  northward  the  white, 
chalky  height  of  Rummon ,  ‘the  cliff  Rimmon  overhanging  the  Jordan 
‘wilderness’  where  the  remnant  of  the  Benjamites  maintained  themselves 
in  the  general  ruin  of  their  tribe  (Judg.  xx:  47).  Further  still,  the  dark 
conical  hill  of  Tayibeh,  with  its  village  perched  aloft,  like  those  of  the 
Appenines,  the  probable  representative  of  the  Ophrah  of  Benjamin  (Josh, 
xviii:  23),  and  in  later  times  the  ‘city  called  Ephraim '  to  which  our  Lord 
retired,  ‘near  to  the  wilderness,’  after  the  raising  of  Lazarus”  (John  xi:  54). 

Between  Mukmas  and  Rummon  is  a  ruin  so  complete  that  its  name 
Et  Tell ,  The  Heap  or  Afo?md,  peculiar  as  it  is,  is  yet  entirely  appropriate. 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA 


421 


The  word  Tell  is  common  enough  in  Syria,  but  it  is  usually  accompanied 
with  some  more  specific  designation,  as  Tell  Hum,  Tell  Asur,  Tell  Yusef, 
signifying  the  Heap  or  Mound  of  Hum,  Asur,  Yusef.  In  this  case,  it  is 
used  simply  with  the  article,  Et  Tell,  The  Heap.  One  would  think  that  so 
peculiar  a  use  of  the  word  must  imply  some  peculiarity  of  the  place  as  its 
cause,  and,  so  the  fact  would  seem  to  be.  There  was  a  city  taken  by 
Joshua  which  he  completely  desolated,  and  made  “a  heap  forever”  (Josh. 


RAMAH. 


viii:  28).  The  word  tell  is  here  used,  and,  as  it  is  of  rare  occurrence  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  there  was  some  special 
propriety  in  its  use  on  this  occasion.  So  there  seems  to  have  been,  for  the 
name  of  the  city  which  Joshua  destroyed  was  Ai,  or  more  generally,  Hai, 
or  Haiath ,  which  also  signifies  The  Heap  or  The  Mound.  The  language  of 
Joshua  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  grim  play  upon  words,  as  if  he  had  said, 
“You  called  your  city  Hai,  The  Heap ,  but  I  will  make  it  a  tell  forever.  As 
the  situation  of  Et-Tell  perfectly  corresponds  with  the  scriptural  accounts 
of  Ai,  it  would  seem  as  if  Joshua’s  new  name  had  stuck  to  it  for  thousands 
of  years,  though  Ai  has  never  since  reappeared  in  history. 

We  may  now  describe  the  two  great  battles  which  made  this  district 


422  FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 

illustrious  in  the  annals  of  Israel.  The  first  was  that  which  ended  in  the 
destruction  of  Ai. 

Joshua  had  led  Israel  to  the  western  side  of  Jordan  and  had  encamped 
at  Gilgal.  Jericho  had  fallen,  and  Jericho  was  the  key  to  the  interior  coun¬ 
try.  From  that  city  to  the  upland  regions,  above  Jerusalem,  the  ancient 
pass  seems  to  have  been  by  the  Wady  Kelt  and  the  Wady  Suweinit.  That 
way  was  now  clear;  and  the  scouts  reported  that  a  force  of  two  or  three 
thousand  men  would  be  sufficient  for  the  capture  of  Ai.  They  had  not 
sufficiently  considered  the  advantage  of  position  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Ai  had  over  an  enemy  advancing  up  hill  to  the  attack;  and  in  the  event,  the 
Israelitish  force,  though  its  loss  was  small,  was  driven  headlong  down  the 
pass  toward  Jericho,  in  “the  Wilderness”  of  Jordan  (Josh,  vii *.2-5).  The 
second  assault  was  better  planned.  During  the  night  Joshua  sent  a  heavy 
force  high  up  into  the  wady  north  of  Ai,  and  soon  afterward  posted  a  smaller 
force  on  the  west,  and  then  advanced  as  before  to  a  feigned  assault.  The 
king  of  Ai,  expecting  a  second  victory,  and  not  suspecting  an  ambush, 
rushed  down  upon  the  assailants  in  front,  and  when  they  fled  as  before 
toward  Jordan,  he  followed  in  hot  pursuit.  Then  the  ambushed  forces  fell 
upon  the  defenceless  city,  and  set  it  on  fire.  At  the  sight  of  the  rising 
smoke,  which  was  the  appointed  signal,  the  pretended  fugitives  turned  upon 
their  pursuers,  who  were  now  attacked  in  front  and  rear,  and  cut  them  to 
pieces.  So  Ai  became  Et-Tell,  “a  heap  forever”  (Josh.  viii:i-22). 

Of  the  great  battle  of  Michmash,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  site  of 
Ai,  we  may  here  give  the  glowing  account  of  Dean  Stanley: 

“The  next  time  that  the  Pass  of  Ai  appears  is  in  a  situation  of  events 
almost  exactly  reversed.  The  lowest  depression  which  the  Israelite  state 
ever  reached  before  the  Captivity,  was  in  the  disastrous  period  during  the 
first  struggles  of  the  monarchy,  when  the  Philistines,  after  the  great  victory 
over  the  sons  of  Eli,  became  the  virtual  masters  of  the  country;  and  not 
content  with  defending  their  own  rich  plain,  ascended  the  passes  from  the 
west  (1  Sam.  xiii : 5),  and  pitched  in  the  heart  of  the  mountains  of  Benja¬ 
min,  in  Michmash  ‘eastward  from  Beth-aven.’  Before  the  face  of  this  ter¬ 
rible  visitation,  the  people  fled  in  all  directions.  Some  even  took  refuge 
beyond  the  Jordan.  Most  were  sheltered  in  those  hiding-places  which  all 
parts  of  Palestine,  but  especially  the  broken  ridges  of  this  neighborhood, 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA.  423 

abundantly  afford.  The  rocks  are  perforated  in  every  direction,  with 
‘caves,’  and  ‘holes,’  and  ‘pits’  (1  Sam.  xiii:6;  xiv:n),  crevices  and  fissures 
sunk  deep  in  the  rocky  soil,  such  as  those  in  which  the  Israelites  are  de¬ 
scribed  as  concealing  themselves.  The  name  of  Michmash  (‘hidden  treas¬ 
ure,’  Deut.  xxxii:34),  seems  to  be  derived  from  this  natural  peculiarity. 
Saul  himself  remained  on  the  verge  of  his  kingdom,  in  the  Vale  of  Jordan,  at 
Gilgal.  East,  and  west,  and  north,  through  the  three  valleys  which  radiate 


CAPTURE  OF  AI.  ( GEN.  VIII.) 

from  the  uplands  of  Michmash — to  Ophrah,  on  the  north,  through  the  Pass 
of  Beth-Horon,  on  the  west,  and  down  ‘the  ravine  of  the  hyenas,’  ‘toward 
the  Wilderness  of  the  Jordan,  on  the  east,’ — the  spoilers  went  forth  out  of 
the  camp  of  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  xiii  117,  18). 

At  last  the  spirit  of  the  people  revived.  On  top  of  one  of  those  coni- 


424 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


cal  hills  which  have  been  remarked  as  characteristic  of  the  Benjamite  ter¬ 
ritory,  in  his  native  Gibeah,  Saul  ventured  to  entrench  himself  with 
Samuel  and  Ahiah  (i  Sam.  xiii:  1 6 ;  xiv:  2,  18);  where  Jonathan  had 
already  been  at  the  time  when  his  father  was  driven  from  his  previous 
post  at  Michmash  by  the  Philistine  inroad  (1  Sam.  xiii:  16).  From  this 
point  to  the  enemy's  camp  was  about  three  miles,  and  between  them  lay 
the  deep  gorge  of  the  Wady  Suweinit,  here  called  the  passage  of  Mich¬ 
mash,  which  is  described  as  running  between  two  jagged  points,  or  “teeth 
of  the  cliff,”  as  the  Hebrew  idiom  expressly  calls  them;  the  one  called  the 
“Shining”  (Bozez),  probably  from  some  such  appearance  in  the  chalky 
cliff;  the  other,  “the  Thorn”  (Seneh),  probably  from  some  solitary  acacia 
on  its  top  (1  Sam.  xiv:  4).  Immediately  above,  the  garrison  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines  would  seem  to  have  been  situated.  It  was  up  the  steep  sides  of  this 
ravine  that  Jonathan  and  his  armour-bearer  made  their  adventurous 
approach,  and,  aided  by  the  sudden  panic,  and  by  the  simultaneous  ter¬ 
ror  of  the  shock  of  an  earthquake,  the  two  heroes  succeeded  in  dispersing 
the  whole  host.  From  every  quarter  the  Hebrews  took  advantage  of  their 
enemies.  From  the  top  of  Gibeah,  the  watchman  saw,  and  the  King  and 
the  High-priest  heard,  the  signs  of  the  wild  confusion.  In  the  camp  of  the 
Philistines  the  Israelite  deserters  turned  against  them.  From  the  Mount¬ 
ains  of  Ephraim  on  the  north,  the  Israelites,  who  had  hid  themselves,  ‘fol¬ 
lowed  hard  after  them  in  the  battle.’  ‘So  the  Lord  saved  Israel  that  day, 
and  the  battle  passed  over  to  Beth-aven”  (that  is,  Bethel).  It  passed  over 
to  the  central  ridge  of  Palestine;  it  passed  through  the  forest  now  destroyed 
where,  from  the  droppings  of  the  wild  honey  on  the  ground,  the  fainting 
warrior  refreshed  his  parched  lips;  it  passed  over  to  the  other  side,  from 
the  eastern  pass  of  Michmash  to  the  western  pass  of  Ajalon,  through 
which  they  fled  into  their  plains;  ‘and  the  people  smote  the  Philistines!’ 
Then  Saul  ‘went  up’  again  into  his  native  hills,  ‘and  the  Philistines  went  to 
their  own  place’  (1  Sam.  xiv:  46);  and  from  that  day  till  the  fatal  route  of 
Gilboa,  Israel  was  secure  (1  Sam.  xiv:  4-46).“ 

1 

It  is  impossible  to  leave  this  most  interesting  district  of  the  Promised 
Land  without  referring  to  the  poetical  description  by  the  prophet  Isaiah 
of  the  advance  through  it  of  the  invading  army  of  Sennacherib  in  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah,  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Saul. 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA 


425 


With  a  truly  dramatic  rapidity  of  movement  the  prophet  describes  the 
progress  of  the  invader  through  most  of  the  places  mentioned  and  others 
of  which  no  vestige  now  remains. 

“He  is  come  to  Ai;  he  is  passed  to  Migron. 

At  Michmash  he  deposits  his  baggage; 

They  cross  the  pass;  Geba  is  their  night-station. 

Ramah  is  afraid;  Gibeah  of  Saul  has  fled; 


RUINS  OF  BETHEL. 


Cry  aloud  with  thy  voice,  O  daughter  of  Gallim; 

Cause  it  to  be  heard  unto  Laish!  Alas,  poor  Anathoth! 

Madmenah  is  escaped,  the  dwellers  in  Gebim  take  to  flight. 

As  yet  for  that  day  he  halts  at  Nob. 

He  shakes  his  hand  against  the  mount  of  the  daughter  of  Zion, 

The  hill  of  Jerusalem!’’  (Isa.  x:  28-32.) 

In  these  stirring  verses  the  progress  of  Sennacherib  is  clearly  told. 
Marching  past  Ai,  he  comes  to  Migron,  not  the  Migron  belonging  to  Gibeah 
of  Saul  (1  Sam.  xiv:  2),  but  some  “precipice”  on  the  great  wady.  At 
Michmash  he  leaves  his  superfluous  baggage  which  it  would  be  difficult  to 
transport  further,  and  then,  after  crossing  the  wady,  rests  for  the  night  at 


426 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


Geba.  Next  day  he  passes  Ramah  and  Gibeah,  from  which  the  terrified 
inhabitants  have  fled;  Gallim  and  Laish  (of  which  we  know  nothing)  fall 
before  him;  Anathoth  suffers  pitiably,  while  the  inhabitants  of  Madmenah 
and  Gebim  (of  whom  also  we  know  nothing)  have  had  the  foresight  to 
remove  their  treasures;  and  so,  on  the  second  day,  he  halts  at  Nob,  whence 
he  looks  upon  the  daughter  of  Zion,  the  hill  of  Jerusalem,  and  shakes 
against  her  his  hand  of  threatening. 

Thus  far  God  permits  him  to  come,  but  no  further.  Before  the  hand 
of  God  Sennacherib  is  no  more  than  the  bough  of  a  forest  tree,  and 
“Behold,  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  shall  lop  the  bough  with  terror, 

He  shall  cut  down  the  thickest  of  the  forest  with  iron, 

Yea,  and  Lebanon  shall  fall  mightily.”  (Isa.  x:33,  34.) 

In  spite  of  all  invasions,  and  all  manner  of  calamities,  the  scepter  shall 
not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  law-giver  from  between  His  feet;  for 
“There  shall  come  forth  a  Rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse, 

And  a  Branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  roots; 

And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  Him, 

The  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding, 

The  Spirit  of  counsel  and  might, 

The  Spirit  of  knowledge,  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

Righteousness  shall  be  the  girdle  of  His  loins, 

And  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  His  reins. 

They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  My  holy  mountain; 

For  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord, 

As  the  waters  cover  the  sea!”  (Isa.  xi:i,  2,  5,  9). 

It  is  not  possible  that  the  Son  of  David,  in  Whom  all  these  promises 
were  to  have  their  fulfilment,  should  pass  through  the  very  place  where  the 
events  which  occasioned  this  majestic  prophecy  occurred,  without  thinking 
both  of  it  and  of  them ! 

Returning  to  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Samaria,  we  find,  on  the  left, 
about  two  miles  north  of  Er-Ram,  a  ruin  called  Khirbet  el  Atara,  with  two 
old  pools,  answering  to  the  ancient  Ataroth-Addar  (Josh.  xvi:5);  and  two 
miles  further  on,  after  skirting  the  Wady  Suweinit,  which  begins  there,  we 
come  to  Bireh,  the  ancient  Beeroth. 

Beeroth,  as  we  have  seen,  was  one  of  the  four  cities  of  the  Gibeonites 
(Josh.  ix:i7).  It  appears,  however,  that  its  Hivite  inhabitants,  possibly 
fretting  under  the  yoke  to  which  they  had  submitted,  abandoned  their  city. 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA.  427 

Thenceforward,  Beeroth  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  (2  Sam.  iv.2), 
and  the  cowardly  assassins  of  Saul’s  son,  Ish-bosheth,  were  Benjamites,  of 
Beeroth.  No  further  historical  incident  is  recorded  in  connection  with 
Beeroth,  but  the  spot  has  been  made  exceedingly  interesting  by  a  tradition 
which  is  altogether  improbable,  though  it  may  conceivably  be  true. 

Beeroth  took  its  name  from  its  abundant  water  which  made  it  a  suita¬ 
ble  place  for  camping,  and  it  has  long  been  the  night  station  for  caravans 


Jacob’s  vision,  (gen.  xxviii:  10-22.) 


going  northward  from  Jerusalem.  Hence  the  tradition  that  it  was  at  that 
place  that  the  parents  of  Jesus,  at  the  close  of  their  first  day’s  jour¬ 
ney  from  His  first  Passover,  at  twelve  years  of  age,  “sought  Him  among 
their  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance,  and,  when  they  found  Him  not,  turned  back 
again  to  Jerusalem  seeking  Him”  (Luke  ii :  44,  45).  We  have  already  seen 
Uiat  the  passage  of  Jewish  caravans  through  Samaria,  especially  from  the 


428 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


celebration  of  Jewish  feasts,  would  be  so  offensive  to  the  Samaritans  as 
probably  to  lead  to  disturbance,  and  even  bloodshed.  For  that  reason  it 
is  exceedingly  unlikely  that  the  parents  of  Jesus  would  return  to  their  home 
at  Nazareth,  by  that  route.  Still  it  is  possible  that  they  may  have  done  so; 
and  a  mediaeval  tradition,  founded,  perhaps,  on  a  still  earlier  belief,  was 
emphasized  by  the  erection  of  a  magnificent  church  and  hospice  by  English 
Knights  Templar,  in  memory  of  the  supposed  event.  The  ruins  of  the 
church,  consisting  of  three  apses  and  the  north  wall,  still  remain,  and  be¬ 
side  them  is  the  wely,  or  sanctuary,  of  a  Mohammedan  saint.  At  the  pres¬ 
ent  time,  Bireh  is  a  flourishing  village  with  about  eight  hundred  inhabi¬ 
tants,  who  drive  a  profitable  traffic  with  the  caravans  which  frequently 
occupy  the  village  khan  and  the  broad  camping-ground  beside  a  noble 
fountain  and  an  old  mosque. 

Two  miles  and  a  half  beyond  Bireh  is  a  spot  hallowed  in  all  Christian 
and  Jewish  memories,  Bethel ,  the  House  of  God,  more  anciently  called  Luz, 
and  now  Beitin  (Gen.  xxviii:  19).  Its  sanctity  extended  to  the  time  when 
Abraham  “journeyed  through  the  land,”  and  first  received  at  Sichem  the 
promise  that  the  whole  land  should  be  the  inheritance  of  his  posterity. 
At  Sichem  he  built  an  altar;  but  near  by  Bethel,  “with  Bethel  on  the  west 
and  Ai  on  the  east,”  he  built  another  “altar  unto  Jehovah,  and  called  upon 
the  name  of  Jehovah”  (Gen.  xii:6-8).  It  was  to  Bethel,  and  not  to  Sichem, 
that  he  went  again  to  offer  sacrifice  on  his  return  out  of  Egypt,  and  it  was 
then  and  there  that  he  and  his  kinsman  Lot  took  their  view  of  the  sur¬ 
rounding  country  in  preparation  for  a  friendly  separation  (Gen.  xiii).  There 
had  been  strife  among  the  herdmen  of  their  respective  flocks,  and  Abraham 
was  a  man  of  peace.  “Let  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,”  he  said, 
“between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my  herdmen  and  thy  herdmen,  for  we 
be  brethren.  Is  not  the  whole  land  before  thee?  If  thou  wilt  take  the 
left  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right;  or,  if  thou  depart  to  the  right  hand 
I  will  go  to  the  left.”  Then,  we  are  told,  that  “Lot  lifted  up  his  eyes  and 
beheld,”  and  made  the  choice  which  ended  so  fearfully.  The  spot  of  that 
fateful  view  is  precisely  indicated.  It  must  have  been  a  lofty  eminence; 
and  yet  it  was  not  Bethel,  strictly  speaking,  but  a  height  having  Bethel 
on  the  west  and  Ai  on  the  east  (Gen.  xii:  8,  xiii -.3).  “This  precision,”  says 
Dean  Stanley,  “is  the  more  to  be  noticed  because  it  makes  the  whole  dif- 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA.  429 

ference  in  the  truth  and  vividness  of  the  remarkable  scene  which  follows. 
Immediately  east  of  the  low  grey  hills,  on  which  the  Canaanitish  Luz  and 
the  Jewish  Bethel  afterward  stood,  rises  a  conspicuous  hill,  its  topmost 
summit  resting,  as  it  were,  on  the  rocky  slopes  below,  and  distinguished 
from  them  by  the  olive  grove  which  clusters  over  its  broad  surface  above. 
From  this  height,  thus  offering  a  natural  base  for  the  patriarchal  altar,  and 
a  fitting  shade  for  the  patriarchal  tent,  Abraham  and  Lot  must  be  con¬ 
ceived  as  taking  the  wide  survey  of  the  country  ‘on  the  right  hand  and  on 
the  left,’  such  as  can  be  enjoyed  from  no  other  point  in  the  neighborhood. 
To  the  east  there  rises  in  the  foreground  the  jagged  range  of  the  hills  above 
Jericho;  in  the  distance  the  dark  wall  of  Moab;  between  them  lies  the  wide 
Valley  of  the  Jordan — its  course  marked  by  the  tract  of  forest  in  which  its 
rushing  stream  is  enveloped;  and  down  to  this  valley  a  long  and  deep  ra¬ 
vine,  now,  as  always,  the  main  line  of  communication  by  which  it  is  ap¬ 
proached  from  the  central  hills  of  Palestine — a  ravine  rich  with  vine,  olive 
and  fig,  winding  its  way  through  ancient  reservoirs  and  sepulchres,  remains, 
of  a  civilization  now  extinct,  but  in  the  times  of  the  patriarchs  not  yet 
begun.  To  the  south  and  the  west  the  view  commanded  the  bleak  hills  of 
Judea,  varied  by  the  heights  crowned  with  what  were  afterward  the  cities 
of  Benjamin,  and  overhanging  what,  in  a  later  day,  was  to  be  Jerusalem, 
and,  in  the  far  distance,  the  southern  range  on  whose  slope  is  Hebron. 
Northward  are  the  hills  which  divide  Judea  from  the  rich  plains  of 
Samaria. 

This  is  the  view  which  was  to  Abraham  what  Pisgah  was  afterward 
to  his  great  descendant.  This  was  to  the  lords  of  Palestine,  then  almost 
free  before  them,  where  to  choose,  what  in  Grecian  legends  is  represented 
under  the  figure  of  the  Choice  of  Hercules;  in  the  fables  of  Islam  under  the 
story  of  the  prophet  turning  back  from  Damascus.  ‘And  Lot  lifted  up 
his  eyes,’  toward  the  right,  ‘and  beheld  all  the  ‘circle’  of  Jordan,  and  it 
was  well  watered  everywhere.  .  .  .even  as  a  garden  of  the  Lord,  like  unto 
Egypt.’  He  saw  not,  indeed,  the  tropical  fertility  and  copious  streams 
along  its  source.  But  he  knew  of  its  fame,  as  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  as  of 
the  valley  of  the  Nile;  no  crust  of  salt,  no  volcanic  convulsions  had  as  yet 
blasted  its  verdure,  or  touched  the  secure  civilization  of  the  early  Phoeni¬ 
cian  settlements  which  had  struck  root  within  its  deep  abyss.  ‘Then  Lot 


430 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


chose  him  all  the  ‘circle’  of  the  Jordan,  and  Lot  journeyed  east;  and  they 
separated  themselves  one  from  the  other.  .  .  .and  Lot  dwelt  in  the  cities  of 
the  ‘circle’  of  the  Jordan,  and  pitched  his  tent  toward  Sodom.  But  the 
men  of  Sodom  were  wicked  and  sinners  before  the  Lord  exceedingly.  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Abraham  after  that  Lot  had  separated  from  him,  ‘Lift 
up  now  thine  eyes, and  look  from  the  place  where  thou  art,  northward  and 
southward,  and  eastward  and  westward;  for  all  the  land  which  thou  seest, 
to  thee  I  will  give  it  and  to  thy  seed  forever.  .  .  .and  I  will  make  thy  seed 
as  the  dust  of  the  earth,  so  that  if  a  man  can  number  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  then  shall  thy  seed  be  numbered.  Arise,  walk  through  the  land  in 
the  length  of  it  and  in  the  breadth  of  it;  for  I  will  give  it  unto  thee.’  Those 
'bleak  hills  were  indeed  to  be  the  site  of  cities  whose  names  would  be  held 
in  honor  after  the  very  ruins  of  the  seats  of  a  corrupt  civilization  in  the  gar¬ 
den  of  the  Jordan  would  have  been  swept  away;  that  dreary  view,  unfolded 
then  in  its  primeval  desolation  before  the  eyes  of  the  now  solitary  Patri¬ 
arch,  would  be  indeed  peopled  with  a  mighty  nation  through  many  genera¬ 
tions,  with  mighty  recollections  ‘like  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  number, 
forever. 

Along  the  same  beaten  track,  which  for  thousands  of  years  has  led 
from  the  south  to  the  north  of  Palestine,  came  the  wandering  steps  of  the 
solitary  fugitive  Jacob,  when  he  fled  from  the  anger  of  his  defrauded  and 
justly  indignant  brother.  He  did  not  know  the  country  as  Abraham  had 
known  it,  and  in  the  Plain  of  Bethel,  he  laid  him  down  to  rest  with  the 
bare  ground  for  his  couch,  a  stone  for  his  pillow,  and  the  starry  sky  of  the 
"east  for  his  canopy.  It  was  there  that  he  dreamed  of  the  ladder  (which 
was  more  than  the  illusion  of  a  dream),  with  its  foot  set  upon  the  earth, 
and  its  top  reaching  to  the  utmost  heaven,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascend¬ 
ing  and  descending  on  it.  In  that  vision  he  learned  that  all  his  unbrotherly 
fraud  had  been  worse  than  wasted,  since  it  was  of  God’s  purpose,  and  not 
through  his  own  craft,  that  the  main  line  of  his  father’s  posterity  was  to  be 
continued  through  him.  Starting  from  his  sleep,  he  said,  “  ‘Surely  God  is 
in  this  place,  and  I  knew  it  not!’  And  he  said,  ‘How  awful  is  this  place! 
This  it  none  other  but  the  House  of  God  (Beth-El)  and  this  is  the  gate  of 
heaven.’  And  Jacob  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  took  the  stone  that 
he  had  put  for  his  pillow  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  and  poured  oil  upon  the 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


top  of  it;  and  he  called  the  name  of  that  place  Beth-El;  but  the  name  of 
that  city  was  Luz  at  the  first”  (Gen.  xxviii:  10-19). 

Thither  again  came  Jacob  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity,  and  built  an 
altar  to  the  God  who  had  kept  promise  with  him  since  the  night  of  his 
vision;  and  from  that  time  onward,  Beth-El  was  a  sanctuary  of  the  children 
of  Israel  (Gen.  xxxv:  1-7).  In  the  language  of  their  sacred  books  its  name 
is  used  in  such  a  way,  that  our  translators  have  wavered  between  the 


SHILOH. 


ITebrew  word  Bethel  as  a  proper  name,  and  its  English  equivalent,  the 
House  of  God.  After  they  had  taken  possession  of  the  land,  the  people  in 
their  distress  went  to  seek  counsel  of  the  Lord  at  the  “House  of  God,”  that 
is,  at  Bethel;  for  it  appears  that,  for  a  time,  at  least,  the  ark  of  the  cove¬ 
nant,  with  the  consecrated  altars  of  burnt  offering  and  of  incense,  were 
kept  at  Bethel  under  the  charge  of  Phinehas,  the  grandson  of  Aaron  (Judg. 
xx :  18,  26-28,  31 ;  XXU2-4).  There,  also,  at  a  later  time,  the  priestly  judge 


432 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


and  prophet,  Samuel,  held  one  of  his  yearly  circuits  for  the  administration 
of  justice  (i  Sam.  vii:  16). 

On  the  division  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  from  that  of  Judah,  Jeroboam 
desecrated  the  sanctuary  of  Bethel  by  making  it  a  sanctuary  of  idolatry 
(i  Kings  xii:2S,  29,  33),  though  not  without  a  brave  protest  from  a  prophet 
of  God,  who  went  thither  from  Judah  to  deliver  his  perilous  message 
(1  Kings  xiii:  1-4).  Yet  there  were  still  worshipers  and  even  prophets  of 
the  true  God  left  in  the  sacred  city  (1  Kings  xiii:  11);  and  when  Elijah 
visited  Bethel,  he  found  there  a  school  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  (2  Kings 
ii :  2,  3).  Under  Jehu,  the  calf-worship  of  Jeroboam  was  renewed  (2  Kings  x: 
29),  and  under  his  great-grandson,  Bethel  became  both  a  royal  city  and  a 
royal  sanctuary  (Amos  vii:  13).  It  then  attained  its  highest  splendor  as  a 
residence  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  who  had  both  a  summer  palace  and  a 
winter  palace  there.  There,  too,  the  nobles  had  their  “houses  of  ivory," 
with  sumptuous  furniture  and  equipage,  leading  luxurious  and  self-indulgent 
lives,  and  maintaining  a  magnificent,  but  idolatrous  worship  (Amos  iii:  15;. 
v:  21,  22;  vi:  4-6).  With  the  Assyrian  invasion  all  these  things  came  to  an 
end;  “the  Lord  removed  Israel  out  of  His  sight;’’  the  unfaithful  people  were 
carried  away  into  captivity,  and  their  land  was  repeopled  by  alien  tribes 
from  Babylon  and  elsewhere  (2  Kings  xvii:  23,  24).  Strange  to  say,  it  was 
then  and  by  those  strangers  that  the  worship  of  Jehovah  was  restored  at 
Bethel.  When  they  came  into  the  country,  they  found  it  so  forsaken  and 
desolate,  that  the  wild  beasts  had  invaded  it,  and  some  of  the  strangers 
were  destroyed.  Attributing  this  misfortune  to  the  anger  of  “the  God  of 
the  land,”  they  appealed  to  the  King  of  Assyria  who  sent  one  of  the  cap¬ 
tive  priests  to  Bethel  to  “teach  them  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  land.” 
The  priests  “taught  them  how  they  should  fear  Jehovah;”  and  they  fol¬ 
lowed  his  instructions;  but  their  worship  of  Jehovah  did  not  exclude  that 
of  their  own  tribal  gods,  and  their  mixed  ritual  continued  (though  not  at 
Bethel)  down  to  the  time  of  the  writing  of  the  Second  Book  of  the  Kings 
(2  Kings  xvii:  24-34). 

During  the  reign  of  the  good  King  Josiah  every  vestige  of  idolatry 
at  Bethel  was  swept  clean  away.  The  altar  and  “high  place”  of  Jero¬ 
boam,  which  had  been  suffered  to  stand,  were  cast  down  and  polluted  by 
burning  upon  them  dead  men’s  bones  from  the  neighboring  tombs.  As 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA 


433 


he  looked  around,  Josiah  saw  one  sepulcher  bearing  an  inscription,  and 
asked  whose  sepulcher  it  was.  On  being  told  that  it  was  the  tomb  of  the 
prophet  who  had  bravely  borne  a  message  of  denunciation  to  Jeroboam, 
foretelling  the  vengeance  which  Josiah  himself  had  just  executed,  he  said, 
“Let  him  alone;  let  no  man  move  his  bones!”  So  that  monument  and  the 
bones  of  the  brave  prophet  they  let  alone;  and  with  them  they  left  in 


X—  -  / 

M**"'"  A® 


DEATH  OF  ELI.  (i.  SAM.  IV:  l8.1 

peace  the  bones  of  that  other  prophet  whose  white  lie,  “told  out  of  a  kindly 
and  hospitable  impulse,  had  betrayed  the  faithful  prophet  to  his  death,  and 
caused  him  to  be  known  in  history  as  ‘the  disobedient  prophet’  ”  (2  Kings 
xxiii:  15-20;  comp.  1  Kings  xiii :  1 — 10).  From  that  time  on,  the  sanctuary 
of  Bethel  was  lorsaken,  and  the  city  ceased  to  be  a  place  of  importance, 
but  it  still  existed  in  the  time  of  Vespasian,  since  it  was  captured  by  him 
on  his  march  from  Tiberias  to  Jerusalem.  In  the  New  Testament  it  is  not 


434 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


mentioned,  though  it  must  have  been  passed  by  our  Saviour  on  the  journey 
we  are  now  tracing.  In  later  history  it  is  unknown.  Its  very  site,  of 
which,  however,  there  is  no  question,  is  a  recent  discovery  of  rhe  mission¬ 
ary  Nicolaye  (1836). 

Beitin  stands  on  a  hill,  and  consists  of  miserable  hovels  inhabited  by 
four  hundred  wretched  people.  It  has  the  ruins  of  a  tower  with  some 
ancient  substructions.  Near  it  are  the  remains  of  a  church.  In  the  val¬ 
ley  to  the  west  is  a  large  reservoir  five  hundred  feet  long  by  three  hundred 
and  fifty  wide,  enclosed  by  solid  masonry.  The  village  looks  down  upon 
the  valley  to  the  east  where  Abraham  pitched  his  tent  and  Jacob  laid  him 
down  to  sleep  with  a  stone  for  his  pillow.  The  following  observations  of 
Dr.  Flackett  will  be  found  interesting: 

“The  sojourn  of  Abraham  and  Lot  with  their  flocks  and  herds  in  this 
region  (Gen.  xiii:  1)  implies  that  it  was  very  fertile  and  well  suited  to  their 
pastoral  occupations.  The  writer  can  testify  that  it  maintains  still  its 
,  ancient  character  in  this  respect.  The  cattle  which  he  saw  there  sur¬ 
passed  in  number  and  size  any  that  he  saw  at  any  one  time  in  any 
other  place.  Springs  abound:  and  a  little  to  the  west,  toward  Jufna , 
the  Roman  Gophna,  was  a  little  flooded  meadow,  which  as  late  as  the  28th 
of  April,  was  almost  large  enough  to  be  called  a  lake.  On  the  hill-top 
just  east  of  Bethel,  where  Abraham  and  Lot  agreed  to  separate  from  each 
other,  the  eye  catches  a  sight  which  is  quite  startling:  we  see  not  only  the 
course  of  the  Jordan  stretching  north  and  south,  readily  traced  by  the  wav¬ 
ing  line  of  verdure  along  its  banks,  but  its  waters  broken  and  foaming  as 
they  roll  over  some  of  the  many  cascades,  almost  cataracts,  for  which  the 
river  is  remarkable.  It  is  interesting  to  be  reminded  that  sepulchers  are 
found  at  the  present  day  in  the  rocky  heights  around  Bethel.  Stanley  also 
speaks  of  ‘the  excavations’  which  the  traveler  sees  in  approaching  this 
place,  in  which  the  dead  of  so  many  past  generations  have  been  buried. 
It  was  from  such  recesses,  no  doubt,  that  King  Josiah,  in  his  zeal  for  the 
worship  of  Jehovah,  dug  up  the  bones  of  the  old  idolaters  who  had  lived  at 
Bethel,  which  he  burned  on  the  altar  of  the  golden  calf  in  order  by  this 
act  of  pollution  to  mark  his  abhorrence  of  such  idolatry,  and  to  render  the 
place  infamous  forever.  There  is  nothing  very  remarkable  in  the  situation 
or  scenery  of  Bethel  to  impress  the  observer;  and  the  hold  which  it 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA 


435 


acquired  on  the  religious  veneration  of  the  Hebrews  presupposes  some  such 
antecedent  history  as  that  related  of  the  patriarchs  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis.” 

If  we  should  take  the  road  to  the  northwest  from  Beitin,  and  follow  it 
for  three  miles  we  should  come  to  Jifna  (or  Jufna ),  the  Gophna  of  Josephus, 
and  a  ride  of  twelve  miles  now  would  bring  us  to  Tibneh ,  which,  without 
doubt,  is  the  ancient  Timnath-serah,  the  home  and  last  resting-place  of 
the  great  leader  whose  name  was  to  be  borne  by  a  greater  Leader  still. 


REMAINS  OF  A  SYNAGOGUE  AT  SHILOH. 


For  Tibneh  was  the  inheritance  of  Joshua,  whose  name  in  the  Greek  form 
is  Jesus.  In  the  division  of  the  conquered  land  of  Canaan,  Joshua  was 
the  last  man  to  whom  an  inheritance  was  given.  We  read  that  “when 
they  had  made  an  end  of  dividing  the  land  for  inheritance,  the  children  of 
Israel  gave  an  inheritance  to  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  among  them.  Yet 
his  portion  was  that  which  he  had  desired.  “According  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord  they  gave  him  the  city  which  he  asked,  even  I  imnath-serah  in  Mount 


436 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


Ephraim;  and  he  builded  a  city  and  dwelt  there”  (Josh,  xix:  49,  50).  It 
has  been  a  matter  of  wonder  that  the  great  chief  who  might  have  had  his 
choice  among  the  best  lands  of  Palestine,  should  have  chosen  so  wildly 
rocky  and  secluded  a  spot.  But  it  is  not  perhaps  so  strange  after  all. 
Joshua  had  fulfilled  an  arduous  task,  and  his  public  life  was  at  an  end. 
For  the  evening  of  his  days  he  might  well  desire  seclusion,  and  if  his 
inheritance  was  modest  and  remote  from  the  great  thoroughfares,  he  and 
his  heirs  would  be  the  less  exposed  to  envy,  and  the  less  danger  there 
would  be  of  future  disturbance.  Joshua  had  the  wisdom  of  Agur,  whose 
prayer  was,  ‘‘Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches;”  and  he  was  tried  as 
perhaps  Agur  was  not;  for  when  “all  the  land  was  before  him,”  he  asked 
and  received  the  rough  and  rugged,  and  almost  barren  hills  of  Timnath- 
serah. 

“And  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things,  that  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun, 
died,  being  an  hundred  and  ten  years  old;  and  they  buried  him  in  the 
border  of  his  inheritance  in  Timnath-serah”  (Josh,  xxiv:  29,  30).  In  the 
vicinity  of  Tibneh  are  many  rock-cut  tombs,  and  one  of  them  is  believed 
by  Captain  Conder  to  be  the  tomb  of  Israel’s  great  leader,  the  faithful  and 
victorious  Joshua.  Captain  Conder  says  it  “is  certainly  the  most  striking 
monument  in  the  country,  and  strongly  recommends  itself  to  the  mind  as  an 
authentic  site.  That  it  is  the  sepulcher  of  a  man  of  distinction  is  manifest 
from  the  great  number  of  lamp-niches  which  cover  the  walls  of  the  porch; 
there  are  over  two  hundred  arranged  in  vertical  rows,  giving  the  appearance 
of  an  ornamental  pattern,  and  all  smoke-blackened.  Here,  then,  if  we  accept 
the  site,  is  the  resting-place  of  the  great  leader,  the  stout  soldier,  the  fierce 
invader,  who  first  brought  Israel  into  the  Promised  Land.”  The  number 
of  tombs  in  the  neighborhood  shows  that  Tibneh  has,  for  some  reason, 
been  a  favorite  place  of  burial;  and  when  it  is  remembered,  that  all  orien¬ 
tals  have  a  strong  and  even"  superstitious  desire  to  be  buried  near  the 
tombs  of  saints  and  heroes,  it  might  be  expected  that  in  the  vicinity  of 
Joshua’s  tomb  many  of  his  countrymen  would  choose  their  future  places  of 
repose.  Except  its  association  with  Joshua,  Tibneh  is  one  of  the  few 
places  in  Palestine  which  have  no  history.  In  the  Roman  period,  it  was  on 
the  high  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Antipatris  and  Caesarea,  and  it  may 
therefore  have  been  visited  by  St.  Paul.  At  present,  its  tombs  and  an 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA 


437 


ancient  oak,  which  is  believed  to  be  the  oldest  and  largest  in  all  Palestine, 
are  its  only  objects  of  interest. 

Returning  to  Beitin,  and  continuing  along  the  direct  road  to  Samaria, 
after  proceeding  about  ten  miles  northward,  we  have  on  our  left  Jiljalia , 
the  Gilgal  from  which  Elijah  “went  down”  to  Bethel  (2  Kings  ii :  2). 

But  where  is  the  ancient  and  renowned  sanctuary  of  Shiloh?  Until 


SEIZURE  OF  THE  MAIDENS  AT  SHILOH.  (JUDGES  XXI.) 

Dr.  Robinson  followed  the  exact  words  of  Scripture  in  his  investigations, 
that  question  could  not  be  answered  as  it  is  now  answered  to  the  perfect 
satisfaction  of  the  learned.  In  the  book  of  Judges  (ch.  xxiiiq),  Shiloh  is 
said  to  be  “on  the  north  side  of  Bethel,  on  the  east  of  the  highway  that 
goeth  up  from  Bethel  to  Shechem,  and  on  the  south  of  Lebonah.”  Follow¬ 
ing  this  indication,  Dr.  Robinson,  a  few  hours  after  leaving  Beitin,  turned 
aside  to  the  “east  of  the  highway,”  and  continuing  northward  he  found 


438 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


Seilun ,  the  situation  of  which  perfectly  corresponds  with  the  Biblical  indi¬ 
cations  of  the  situation  of  Shiloh,  and  the  name  of  which  is  clearly  the 
ancient  name  in  a  more  modern  form.  But  as  if  to  make  his  assurance  of 
the  identity  of  Seilun  with  Shiloh  doubly  sure,  he  was  fortunate  enough  in 
the  same  excursion  to  find  El-Lebbun ,  the  Lebonah  of  which  he  was  in 
search,  north  of  Seilun  and  somewhat  to  the  left  of  the  highway.  Rarely 
has  patient  and  intelligent  investigation  been  more  happily  or  more  com¬ 
pletely  rewarded. 

During  the  period  of  the  Conquest,  the  Tabernacle  of  God  was  kept 
at  Gilgal  by  the  Jordan.  It  was  thence  removed  to  Shiloh  (Josh,  xviii:  i), 
and  there  it  remained,  with  the  exception  of  a  space  during  which  it  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  been  at  Bethel  (Judg.  xx:  26-28),  until  the  consecration  of 
Solomon’s  Temple.  It  was  at  Shiloh  that  the  annual  feasts  of  the  Mosaic 
law  were  celebrated,  and  it  was  during  the  festivities  of  one  of  them  that 
the  remnant  of  the  Benjamites,  with  the  approval  of  their  fellow  Israelites, 
rushed  in  and  carried  off  wives  from  among  the  maidens  who  were  dancing 
in-  the  plain  (Judg.  xxi:  19-23).  It  was  to  Shiloh  that  the  pious  Elkanah 
went  yearly  to  offer  sacrifice;  it  was  there  that  his  wife  Hannah  prayed  in 
bitterness  of  spirit  and  received  from  the  priest  Eli  the  assurance  that  her 
prayer  had  been  answered;  and  it  was  there  that  she  left  her  son  to  be 
brought  up  in  the  House  of  the  Lord  (1  Sam.  i).  It  was  at  Shiloh,  too, 
that  the  sons  of  Eli  disgraced  their  calling  and  profaned  the  sanctuary  by 
their  wickedness  (1  Sam.  ii:  12);  and  it  was  from  Shiloh  that  they  took 
the  Ark  of  God  as  a  talisman  of  victory  into  battle  with  the  Philistines 
(1  Sam.  iv.4-5).  When  he  heard  that  the  Ark  of  God  was  taken  by  the 
Philistines,  Eli  died,  and  the  rule  of  Samuel  as  priest  and  judge  of  Israel 
began  (1  Sam.  iv:  18).  The  ark  never  returned  to  Shiloh.  The  shrine  was 
forsaken  (Psa.  xxvii:6o)  and  the  priestly  sacrifices  were  offered  now  at 
Mizpah  (iSam.vii:9),  now  at  Ramah  (1  Sam.  ix:i2,x:  13),  and  again  at  Gilgal 
(1  Sam.  x:8,  xi:  15).  The  Tabernacle  itself  was  removed  and  for  a  time 
rested  at  Nob  (1  Sam.  xxi:  1-6).  At  length  the  ark  and  the  altar  were 
brought  together  in  the  Temple  of  Solomon;  but  the  glory  of  Shiloh  was 
departed,  and  so  low  was  that  once  favored  shrine  abased  that  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  makes  it  a  terrible  illustration  of  the  unsparing  justice  of  God. 
“Go  ye  now,”  says  the  prophet,  “unto  my  place  which  was  in  Shiloh, 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


439 


where  I  set  my  name  at  the  first,  and  see  what  I  did  for  the  wickedness 
of  my  people  Israel”  (Jer.  vii :  1 2). 

“For  the  purposes  to  which  Shiloh  was  devoted,”  says  Dr.  Hackett, 
“it  was  not  unwisely  chosen.  It  was  secluded,  and  therefore  favorable  to 
acts  of  worship  and  religious  study,  in  which  the  youth  of  scholars  and 
devotees,  like  Samuel,  was  to  be  spent.  Yearly  festivals  were  celebrated 
there,  and  brought  together  assemblages  which  would  need  the  supplies  of 
water  and  pasturage  so  easily  obtained  in  such  a  place.  Terraces  are 
still  visible  on  the  sides  of  the  rocky  hills,  which  show  that  every  foot  and 
inch  of  the  soil  once  teemed  with  verdure  and  fertility.  The  ceremonies 
of  such  occasions  consisted  largely  of  processions  and  dances,  and  the  place 
afforded  ample  scope  for  such  movements.  The  surrounding  hills  served 
as  an  amphitheater,  whence  the  spectators  could  look,  and  have  the  entire 
scene  under  their  eyes.  The  position,  too,  in  times  of  sudden  danger,  ad¬ 
mitted  of  an  easy  defense,  as  it  was  a  hill  itself,  and  the  neighboring  hills 
could  be  turned  into  bulwarks.  To  its  other  advantages  we  should  add 
that  of  its  central  position  for  the  Hebrews  on  the  west  of  the  Jordan. 
‘It  was  equi-distant,’  says  Tristram,  ‘from  north  and  south,  and  easily 
accessible  to  the  trans-Jordanic  tribes.’  An  air  of  oppressive  stillness 
hangs  now  over  all  the  scene,  and  adds  force  to  the  reflection  that  truly  the 
‘oracles’  so  long  consulted  there  ‘are  dumb’  they  had  fulfilled  their  pur¬ 
pose,  and  given  place  to  ‘a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy.’  ” 

Of  the  immediate  features  of  Shiloh,  Dr.  Hackett,  who  has  visited 
the  spot,  says:  “The  contour  of  the  region  indicates  very  clearly  where  the 
ancient  town  must  have  stood.  A  tell,  or  moderate  hill,  rises  from  an  un¬ 
even  plain,  surrounded  by  other  higher  hills,  except  a  narrow  valley  on  the 
south,  which  hill  would  naturally  be  chosen  as  the  principal  site  of  the  town. 
The  Tabernacle  may  have  been  pitched  on  this  eminence,  where  it  would 
be  a  conspicuous  object  on  every  side.  The  ruins  found  there  at  present 
are  very  inconsiderable.  They  consist  chiefly  of  the  remains  of  a  com¬ 
paratively  modern  village,  with  which  some  large  stones  and  fragments 
of  columns  are  intermixed,  evidently  from  much  earlier  times.  Near  a 
ruined  mosque  flourishes  an  immense  oak,  or  terebinth  tree,  the  branches 
of  which  the  winds  of  centuries  have  swayed.  Just  beyond  the  precincts 
of  the  hill  stands  a  dilapidated  edifice,  which  combines  some  of  the  archi- 


440 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  THE  BORDER  OF  SAMARIA. 


tectural  properties  of  a  fortress  and  a  church.  At  the  distance  of  about 
fifteen  minutes  from  the  main  site  is  a  fountain,  which  is  approached 
through  a  narrow  dale.  Its  water  is  abundant,  and  according  to  a  prac¬ 
tice  very  common  in  the  East,  flows  first  into  a  pool  or  well,  and  thence 
into  a  larger  reservoir,  from  which  flocks  and  herds  are  watered. 
This  fountain,  which  would  be  so  natural  a  resort  for  a  festal  party,  may 
have  been  the  place  where  the  ‘daughters  of  Shiloh’  were  dancing,  when 
they  were  surprised  and  borne  off  by  their  captors.  In  this  vicinity  are 
rock-hewn  sepulchres,  in  which  the  bodies  of  some  of  the  unfortunate 
house  of  Eli  may  have  been  laid  to  rest.  There  was  a  Jewish  tradition 
that  Eli  and  his  sons  were  buried  there.” 

After  passing,  and  perhaps  visiting,  many  of  these  sacred  scenes) 
Jesus  and  His  disciples  would  come  into  a  more  and  more  inviting  country, 
and  at  the  distance  of  twenty-five  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  Jerusalem, 
but  much  longer  by  the  way  they  had  to  come,  they  would  at  length  reach 
Akrabbim ,  the  Scorpion  Hills ,  on  the  border  of  Samaria. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


SAMARIA. 

Various  Uses  of  the  Name  Samaria — Relative  Position  of  Ebal,  Gerizim,  Shechem,  Plain  El-Makhna„ 
Jacob’s  Well,  Sychar,  Salim — Beauty  of  the  District— Abraham  and  Lot — Jacob’s  Parcel  of 
Ground,  Well  and  Altar — Murder  of  the  Shechemites — Charge  of  Moses— Obeyed  by  Joshua — 
Joshua’s  Farewell — Abimelech — Jotham’s  Fable — -Coronation  of  Rehoboam — Division  of  the 
Kingdom — Tirzah — Samaria — Its  Situation  and  Strength — Sieges — Captivity — Origin  of  the  Sam¬ 
aritans — Their  Mixed  Religion — Rejected  by  Zerubbabel — Influx  of  Renegade  Jews — Temple  on 
Mount  Gerizim — Samaria  Called  Sebaste,  in  Honor  of  Augustus— Jewish  Hatred  of  Samaritans — 
Traditions  of  Mount  Gerizim — The  True  Mount  Moriah — The  True  Salim — Legends — Neapolis 
a  Christian  See — Destruction  by  Justinian — Subsequent  Fortunes  of  the  Samaritans — The  Samari¬ 
tan  Community  at  Nablous — A  Samaritan  Passover — Nablous  Described — Jesus  at  Sychar — 
Sychar  Probably  a  Suburb  ot  Neapolis — Jacob’s  Well— The  City  Samaria — Beheading  of  the 
Baptist — Tomb  of  the  Baptist — Church  of  St.  John — Ruins  of  Samaria — Plain  of  Dothan. 

AMARIA  was  the  name  given  by  Omri, 
King  of  Israel,  to  the  city  which  he 
built  for  a  royal  residence,  and  the 
name  of  the  city  was  frequently  applied 
to  the  kingdom  of  which  Samaria  be¬ 
came  the  capital.  After  the  captivity 
of  the  Ten  Tribes,  the  Cuthite  immi¬ 
grants,  who  were  brought  into  the  de¬ 
populated  country,  were  called  Samari¬ 
tans,  and  the  district  which  they  occu¬ 
pied  was  called  Samaria.  Finally,  in 
church  of  st.  john,  samaria.  the  time  of  Christ,  Samaria  was  the 

name  of  a  Roman  province,  which  covered,  substantially,  the  country  of 
the  Samaritans.  Through  all  these  changes  the  city  of  Samaria  was  the 
geographical,  and  generally,  also,  the  political,  center  of  the  kingdom,  dis¬ 
trict  or  province  which  bore  its  name. 

As  Samaria  was  not  built  until  fifty  years  after  the  separation  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  from  that  of  Judah,  it  is  not  one  of  the  most  ancient 
cities  of  Palestine.  In  the  Memoirs  of  the  Patriachs,  Shechem  is  the  only 


441 


442 


SAMARIA. 


city  in  that  vicinity  of  which  we  have  any  account.  Shechem,  and  not 
Samaria,  was  the  first  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  in  our  times, 
under  its  modern  name  of  Nablous  (or  Nabulus ),  it  is  a  prosperous  town, 
while  Samaria,  now  Sebastiyeh ,  is  a  comparatively  unimportant  village. 

From  the  plain-like  table-land,  midway  between  the  Jordan  and  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  rise  two  mountain  heights  boldly  confronting  each  other 
on  the  north  and  the  south,  and  separated  from  each  other  at  their  nearest 
point  by  a  narrow  glen  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  length  and  only  about 
one  hundred  yards  in  width.  The  northern  mountain  is  Jebel  Sulemiyeh , 
the  Mount  Ebal  of  the  Bible;  the  mountain  facing  it  is  Jebel  Et-Tor,  the 
Biblical  Mount  Gerizim.  The  height  of  Mount  Ebal  is  3,032  feet,  and  the 
height  of  Mount  Gerizim  is  2,836  feet  above  sea  level.  In  the  sheltered 
glen  between  them,  and  nearly  nineteen  hundred  feet  above  sea  level,  lay 
Shechem,  peacefully  secluded  in  its  mountain  nest.  At  the  eastern  end, 
the  glen  quickly  widens  and  sinks  gently  to  the  level  of  a  plain,  called  the 
Plain  of  El-Makhna ,  which  is  undoubtedly  the  “place  of  Sichem”  mentioned 
in  patriarchal  history  (Gen.  xii:6). 

On  a  little  knoll,  close  by  the  foot  of  Mount  Gerizim,  not  quite  1,200 
yards  in  a  southeasterly  direction  from  Nablous,  is  Bir  Yakub— -Jacob' s  Well. 
It  is  on  the  direct  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Galilee,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  is  indeed  the  well  which  was  dug  by  the  patriarch,  and  beside  which 
our  Saviour  sat  down  to  rest. 

There  is  more  doubt  about  the  “city  of  Samaria,  called  Sychar”  (John 
iv:  5),  at  which  the  well  is  said  to  have  been.  The  name  of  Sychar  seems 
certainly  to  have  been  preserved  in  that  of  the  village  of  Asker ,  which  is 
situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Ebal,  nearly  1,500  yards  due  east  of  Nablous; 
but  Jacob’s  Well  is  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  plain  from  Asker,  and  about 
1,300  yards  distant  from  it,  and  it  is  unlikely  that  the  Samaritan  woman 
would  go  so  far  for  water  in  a  district  in  which  water  is  so  abundant.  It  is 
entirely  probable,  however,  that  in  the  innumerable  wars  which  have  swept 
that  region,  the  Sychar  of  the  gospel  has  been  swept  away,  and  that  some 
of  its  inhabitants,  when  they  rebuilt  it,  not  on  the  same  spot,  but  still  not 
far  from  it,  may  have  cherished  the  memory  of  their  former  home,  by  giv¬ 
ing  the  old  name  to  the  new  village. 

Nearly  midway  between  Jacob’s  Well  and  Asker  is  a  tomb,  evidently 


SAMARIA. 


443 


by  no  means  ancient,  which  is  pointed  out  as  the  tomb  of  the  patriarch 
Joseph;  and  in  the  Plain  of  Makhna,  a  little  more  than  three  miles  south 
of  Nablous,  is  Salim ,  which  may  very  possibly  be  the  former  dwelling  of 
“Melchizedek,  King  of  Salem.”  the  “priest  of  the  most  High  God,”  who 
“brought  forth  bread  and  wine”  to  Abraham,  and  blessed  him,  and  received 
tithes  from  him  (Gen.  xiv:  18-20).  Salim  is  also  one  of  several  places 
which  have  been  supposed  to  be  referred  to  in  the  gospel,  where  we  read 


MELCHIZEDEK  BLESSING  ABRAHAM.  (GEN.  XIVIlS-IQ.) 


that  “John  baptized  in  Aenon,  near  to  Salim,  because  there  was  much 
water  there”  (John  iii:  23). 

Westward  from  Nablous  the  land  sinks  irregularly  away  toward  the 
Mediterranean,  here  swelling  into  hills,  and  there  falling  to  a  lower  level 
as  it  nears  the  sea;  until  it  ends  beyond  the  hills  of  Ephraim  in  the  Plain 
of  Sharon.  About  six  miles  to  the  northwest  of  Nablous,  where  the  general 


444 


SAMARIA. 


level  of  the  land  is  lower  than  that  of  the  Plain  of  Makhna,  there  is  a  broad 
and  wide  basin  encircled  with  hills.  From  the  center  of  this  basin  an 
oblong  hill,  with  steep  sides  and  a  long  flat  top,  rises  to  a  height  of  1,540 
feet.  On  the  summit  of  that  central  hill  once  stood  the  city  of  Samaria. 

After  this  brief  description  of  the  relative  position  of  these  places, 
which  a  glance  at  the  map  will  make  still  clearer,  we  may  proceed  to  the 
facts  and  events  which  have  made  that  narrow  region  so  profoundly  inter¬ 
esting  to  the  Christian  and  the, student. 

To  begin  with  Shechem  and  its  neighborhood,  the  district  surrounding 
it  has  always  been  a  “delightsome  land,”  so  far  as  it  has  lain  in  nature  to 
make  it  so.  From  Isaiah  we  hear  of  the  thickness  of  the  forests  of 
Samaria,  the  beauty  of  its  flowers,  the  fatness  of  its  valleys  and  the 
strength  of  its  wine  (Isa.  ix:  18;  xxviii:  1).  Josephus  says  that  in  his  time 
the  hills  and  valleys  of  Samaria  were  extremely  fruitful,  well-watered,  and 
refreshed  with  copious  rains.  In  the  autumn,  an  immense  number  of 
trees,  both  wild  and  cultivated,  were  laden  with  all  varieties  of  fruits;  and, 
by  reason  of  the  abundance  and  excellence  of  the  grass,  the  cattle  yielded 
greater  quantities  of  milk  than  in  less  favored  regions.  These  were  “the 
blessings  of  Joseph”  awarded  to  him  by  the  testament  of  his  dying  father 
(Gen.  xlix:  26);  and  then,  as  now,  they  were  both  rich  and  beautiful.  An 
enthusiastic  observer  expatiates  on  the  clumps  of  lofty  walnut  trees,  and 
the  thick  groves  of  almond,  pomegranate,  olive,  pear  and  plum  trees,  which 
adorn  the  outskirts  of  Nablous  and  run  toward  the  opening  of  the  valley. 
In  summer  time,  the  woods  are  melodious  with  the  songs  of  birds.  The 
familiar  note  of  the  black-bird,  the  glorious  song  of  the  lark  high  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  chirping  of  innumerable  finches  delight  the  ear,  as  the 
variety  of  color  delights  the  eye.  Brooks  of  clear  mountain  water,  fringed 
with  cyclamens,  dwarf  tulips  and  red  anemones,  splash  and  murmur  on 
their  way  to  the  unseen  Jordan.  The  traveler  repeats  and  justifies  the 
saying  of  Mohammed  that  “the  land  of  Syria  is  beloved  of  Allah  beyond 
all  other  lands;  in  Syria,  the  district  that  he  most  loves  is  the  district  of 
Jerusalem,  and  in  all  the  district  of  Jerusalem  the  place  in  which  he  most 
delights,  is  the  mountain  of  Nablous!”  In  such  a  scene,  even  the  barren 
sterility  of  the  mountain  sides  sets  off  the  luxuriant  fertility  of  the  plain. 
“There  is  nothing  finer  in  all  Palestine,”  says  Dr.  Clarke,  “than  a  view  of 


SAMARIA. 


445 

Nabulus  from  the  heights  around  it.  As  the  traveler  descends  toward  it 
from  the  hills,  it  appears  luxuriantly  embosomed  in  the  most  delightful  and 
fragrant  bowers,  half  concealed  by  rich  gardens  and  by  stately  trees  col¬ 
lected  into  groves,  all  around  the  bold  and  beautiful  valley  in  which  it 
stands."  “The  whole  valley,”  says  Dr.  Robinson,  “was  filled  with  gardens 
of  vegetables,  and  orchards  of  all  kinds  of  fruits,  watered  by  fountains, 
which  burst  forth  in  various  parts  and  flow  westward  in  refreshing  streams. 
It  came  upon  us  suddenly  like  a  scene  of  fairy  enchantment.  We  saw 


Jacob’s  well. 


nothing  to  compare  with  it  in  all  Palestine.  Here,  beneath  the  shadow  of 
an  immense  mulberry  tree,  by  the  side  of  a  purling  rill,  we  pitched  our 
tent  for  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  the  night.  .  .  .  We  rose  early, 

awakened  by  the  songs  of  nightingales  and  other  birds,  of  which  the 
gardens  around  us  were  full.  The  awful  gorge  of  the  Leontes  is  grand 
and  bold  beyond  description;  the  hills  of  Lebanon,  over  against  Sidon,  are 
magnificent  and  sublime;  the  valley  of  the  hill  of  Naphtali  is  rich  in  wild 
oak  forest  and  brushwood;  those  of  Asher,  the  Wady  Kara,  for  example, 


446 


SAMARIA. 


present  a  beautiful  combination  of  wood  and  mountain  stream,  with  all  its 
magnificence  of  undisturbed  originality.  .  .  .  Carmel  with  its  wilder¬ 

ness  of  timber,  trees  and  shrubs,  of  plants  and  bushes,  still  answers 
to  its  ancient  reputation  for  magnificence.  But  the  Vale  of  Shechem 
differs  from  them  all.  “There  is  no  wilderness  here,”  says  Van  de  Velde, 
“there  are  no  wild  thickets,  yet  there  is  always  verdure,  always  shade,  not 
of  the  oak,  the  terebinth,  and  the  carob-tree,  but  of  the  olive-grove,  so  soft 
in  color,  so  picturesque  in  form,  that,  for  its  sake,  we  can  willingly  dis¬ 
pense  with  all  other  wood.  There  is  a  singularity  about  the  Vale  of 
Shechem,  and  that  is  the  peculiar  coloring  which  objects  assume  in  it. 
You  know  that  wherever  there  is  water,  the  air  becomes  charged  with 
watery  particles,  and  that  distant  objects  beheld  through  that  medium 
seem  to  be  enveloped  in  a  pale  blue  or  gray  mist,  such  as  contributes  not  a 
little  to  give  a  charm  to  the  landscape.  But  it  is  precisely  those  atmos¬ 
pheric  tints  that  we  miss  so  much  in  Palestine.  Fiery  tints  are  to  be 
seen  both  in  the  morning  and  the  evening,  and  glittering  violet  or  purple 
colored  hues  where  the  light  falls  next  to  the  long,  deep  shadows;  but  there 
is  an  absence  of  coloring,  and  of  that  charming  dusky  hue,  in  which  objects 
assume  such  softly  blended  forms,  and  in  which,  also,  the  transition  in 
color  from  the  foreground  to  the  furthest  distance,  loses  the  hardness  of 
outline  peculiar  to  the  perfect  transparency  of  an  Eastern  sky.  It  is  other¬ 
wise  in  the  Vale  of  Shechem,  at  least,  in  the  morning  and  the  evening. 
Here  the  exhalations  remain,  hovering  among  the  branches  and  leaves  of 
the  olive-trees,  and  hence  that  lovely  bluish  haze.  The  valley  is  far 
from  broad,  not  exceeding  in  some  places  a  few  hundred  feet.  This  you 
find  generally  inclosed  on  all  sides;  here,  likewise,  the  vapors  are  con¬ 
densed.  And  so  you  advance  under  the  shade  of  the  foliage,  along  the 
living  waters,  and  charmed  by  the  melody  of  a  host  of  singing  birds — for 
they,  too,  know  where  to  find  their  best  quarters — while  the  perspective 
fades  away  and  is  lost  in  the  damp,  vapory  atmosphere.  Apart  entirely 
from  the  historic  interest  of  the  place,  such  are  the  natural  attractions  of 
this  favorite  resort  of  the  patriarch  of  old,  such  the  beauty  of  the  scenery, 
and  the  indescribable  air  of  tranquility  and  repose  which  hangs  over  the 
scene,  that  the  traveler,  anxious  as  he  may  be  to  hasten  forward  in  his 
journey,  feels  that  he  would  gladly  linger,  and  could  pass  here  days  and 
weeks  without  impatience.” 


SAMARIA 


447 


Into  this  wilderness  of  beauty  the  patriarchs  Abraham  and  Lot  came 
wandering  with  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  in  “the  place  of  Sichem”  was 
the  first  spot  of  all  the  Promised  Land  in  which  the  Father  of  the  Faith¬ 
ful  built  an  altar  “unto  the  Lord  who  had  appeared  unto  him”  (Gen. 
xii:  6-8).  When  Jacob  returned  from  Padanaram,  he,  too,  ‘‘came  to 


Shalem,  a  city  of  Shechem,  and  pitched  his  tent  before  the  city”  (Gen. 
xxxiii:  18).  This  Shalem  can  hardly  refer  to  the  Salim  which  is  now  in 
the  Plain  of  Makhnah;  since  a  better  translation  of  the  original  Hebrew 
would  be  that  “Jacob  came  safe  to  city  of  Shechem.”  However  that  may 
be,  Jacob  tarried  long  in  that  place.  He  bought  there  the  only  spot  in  all 
the  land  of  Canaan  that  he  ever  owned,  the  same  “parcel  of  a  field  which 
he  gave  to  his  son  Joseph  (Gen.  xxxiii:  18,  19),  and  in  which  the  children 
of  Israel  buried  Joseph  (Josh.  xxiv:32).  In  that  same  parcel  of  ground 


448 


SAMARIA. 


to  avoid  trouble  with  the  owners  of  the  numerous  springs  around  it,  Jacob 
dug  a  well  for  the  use  of  his  flocks  and  herds;  and  then,  on  his  own  land, 
near  his  own  well,  and  beside  his  own  tent,  he  reared  his  household  altar, 
El- Elohe- Israel  (Gen.  xxxiii:  20).  There  for  many  a  year  the  patriarch 
dwelt  in  peace,  while  all  his  sons,  except  Benjamin,  the  youngest,  grew  to 
manhood  around  him. 

In  the  time  of  Jacob,  Shechem,  though  it  is  called  “city”  can  have 
been  no  more  than  a  village  inhabited  by  a  settlement  of  those  Hivites  of 
whom  so  little  is  known.  Whether  it  took  its  name  from  Shechem,  the  son 
of  Hamor,  or  whether  the  man  took  his  name  from  the  city,  we  do  not 
know.  Either  way  Shechem  was  an  appropriate  name  for  a  town  situated 
on  the  shoulder,  or  saddle,  or  ridge  of  the  tableland  which  from  that  height 
drains  westward  to  the  Mediterranean  and  eastward  to  the  Jordan.  The 
Shechemites  appear  to  have  been  a  simple  and  kindly  people;  and  although 
one  of  their  number  was  guilty  of  a  deadly  outrage  to  the  family  of  Jacob, 
he  and  they  were  ready  to  make  all  possible  reparation.  Of  the  crafty 
treason  by  which  the  sons  of  Jacob  were  enabled  to  assassinate  the 
Shechemites  and  plunder  their  town,  the  aged  patriarch  told  only  the 
truth  when  he  said,  “Cursed  be  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce;  and  their 
wrath,  for  it  was  cruel.  With  their  assembly  mine  honor,  be  not  thou 
united”  (Gen.  xxxiv;  xlix:  6,  7). 

Before  his  death  Moses  solemnly  charged  the  children  of  Israel  that 
as  soon  as  they  had  entered  the  Promised  Land  they  should  march  to  the 
very  heart  of  it,  and  perform  a  sublime  act  of  national  worship.  “When 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  brought  thee  in  unto  the  land  whither  thou  goest 
to  possess  it,  thou  shalt  put  the  blessing  upon  Mount  Gerizim  and  the 
curse  upon  Mount  Ebal”  (Deut.  xi:  29).  They  were  to  take  great  stones 
and  cover  them  with  plaster,  and  in  the  plaster,  which,  when  dry,  would 
be  as  hard  as  the  stones  themselves,  they  were  to  write  all  the  words  of 
the  divine  law.  They  were  also  to  build  an  altar  and  to  offer  burnt  offer¬ 
ings  and  peace  offerings  (Deut.  xxvii:  2-8).  Immediately  after  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Ai  Joshua  performed  this  sacred  duty  to  the  letter.  In  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  children  of  Israel,  their  elders,  their  officers,  their  judges,  and 
even  of  the  women  and  the  little  ones,  he  read  the  law  aloud  and  pro¬ 
claimed  the  blessings  and  the  curses  which  should  light  upon  the  faithful 


SAMARIA 


449 


and  the  disobedient  respectively.  In  the  narrow  glen  between  the  two 
great  mountains  the  ark  and  the  altar  of  God  were  placed  in  full  view  of 
the  people,  who  were  ranged,  line  above  line,  along  the  steep  sides  of  the 
hills,  and  eastward  in  the  widening  vale — a  natural  theater  in  which  the 
voice  of  one  man  might  be  heard  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  So,  while 
'  the  priests  stood  round  about  the  altar,  and  the  smoke  of  burnt  offering, 
and  peace  offering,  and  incense  floated  heavenward.  Joshua  pronounced 


SUPPOSED  TOMB  OF  JOSEPH. 

from  Mount  Gerizim  the  blessings  which  should  come  upon  the  faithful; 
and  at  every  benediction  all  the  people  cried  Amen!  Then,  with  like  fidel¬ 
ity,  he  spake  from  Mount  Ebal  the  curses  that  should  blight  the  disobe¬ 
dient:  and  again  with  one  voice,  echoing  from  mount  to  mount,  the  people 
answered,  Amen!  Thus  were  the  heathen  notified  that  Israel  had  come 
to  take  possession  of  the  land  that  God  had  promised  to  the  patriarchs; 
and  at  the  same  time  Israel  was  advertised  of  the  terms  on  which  that 


450 


SAMARIA. 


good  land  could  remain  to  them  “a  possession  forever”  (Josh,  viii:  30-35). 
Once  again  Joshua  assembled  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  meet  him  “before 
God"  at  Shechem.  His  work  was  done;  the  land  was  theirs;  for  his  own 
portion  he  had  been  content  to  take  the  quiet  and  secluded  crags  of 
Timnath-serah ;  he  would  soon  be  resting  there  “on  the  north  side  of  the 
hill  of  Gaash."  But  before  he  left  them  to  the  good  and  evil  which  the 
future  hid  from  him  and  them,  he  gathered  them  together  and  recounted 
all  that  God  had  done  for  them.  Once  more  he  “set  them  a  statute  and 
an  ordinance  at  Shechem.’’  By  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah,  which,  on  at 
least  one  occasion,  stood  on  Mount  Gerizim,  he  raised  another  stone  for  a 
memorial  witness  that  he  had  done  his  part  between  God  and  them. 
Under  the  “great  oak”  near  by,  he  bade  them  farewell;  and  “so  Joshua  let 
the  people  depart  every  man  unto  his  own  inheritance”  (Josh.  xxiv). 

In  the  time  of  .the  Judges,  Shechem  was  a  place  of  disquiet  and  of 
crime.  Abimelech,  the  slave-born  son  of  Gideon,  contrived  to  seduce  the 
Shechemites,  among  whom  his  mother  had  been  born,  to  make  him  king 
over  them.  With  their  aid,  he  put  to  death  all  the  other  sons  of  Gideon, 
except  young  Jotham,  who  escaped;  and  so  for  a  while  Abimelech  reigned 
at  Shechem.  It  was  then  that  Jotham  made  his  appearance  in  the  heights 
of  Mount  Gerizim,  above  the  city,  and  spoke  the  bitter  fable  of  the  trees 
that  “on  a  time  went  forth  to  anoint  a  king  over  them.”  His  illustrations 
were  all  nigh  at  hand;  the  olive  with  its  fatness,  the  fig  tree  with  its  sweet¬ 
ness,  the  vine  with  its  “wine  which  cheereth  God  and  man,”  and  the  bramble 
bush,  that  light  and  fruitless  dweller  of  the  waste — which  dries  up  like 
stubble  and  like  stubble  can  be  kindled  into  sudden  flame  which  as  suddenly 
dies  down — nothing  could  more  aptly  have  typified  the  vain  man  whom  the 
Shechemites  had  chosen  for  king.  The  short  reign  of  Abimelech  was  full 
of  trouble  for  himself  and  the  abettors  of  his  crime.  Their  hands  were  soon 
turned  against  each  other,  and  before  his  own  death,  Abimelech,  the  bram¬ 
ble,  had  razed  Shechem  to  the  ground  and  sown  its  site  with  salt. 

But  Shechem  sprang  again  from  its  ashes.  It  was  the  place  appointed 
for  the  coronation  of  Rehoboam,  the  son  of  Solomon.  Then,  and  for  the 
last  time,  “all  Israel”  came  together  at  Shechem.  Under  the  leadership  of 
of  Jeroboam,  they  presented  to  the  king  their  dignified  demand  fora  re¬ 
dress  of  grievances;  and  when  they  heard  his  threatening  and  insulting 


SAMARIA. 


453 


answer,  echoed  and  re-echoed  their  fierce  shout,  “To  your  tents,  O  Israel!” 
That  day  the  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah  were  rent  asunder,  and  the 
curses  of  Ebal  began  to  fall  (i  Kings  xii : i - 2 1 ) .  Thenceforward,  Shechem 
almost  disappears  from  history.  In  the  northern  kingdom,  of  which  it  was 
the  first  capital,  it  was  soon  supplanted  by  Samaria.  At  the  Captivity  its 
people  shared  the  fate  of  the  rest  of  Israel.  Its  subsequent  inhabitants 
were  imported  foreigners,  not  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  “Samari¬ 
tans,”  whom  the  Jews  abhorred. 

Omri,  King  of  Israel,  spent  the  first  years  of  his  reign  at  a  pleasaunce, 
or,  as  the  Orientals 
would  call  it,  a  para¬ 
dise,  at  Tirzah,  a  place 
of  such  beauty  that  the 
author  of  the  Canticles 
compares  his  bride  to 
it.  “Thou  art  beautiful, 

O  my  love,  as  Tirzah!” 

(Cant.  vi:4).  After  six 
years  spent  at  Tirzah, 

Omri  set  about  build¬ 
ing  a  new  residence  for 
his  court.  He  bought 
from  its  owner,  Shemer, 
the  hill  which,  from  his 
name,  was  called  in 
Hebrew,  Shomeron,  a 
name  which  became, 
in  Chaldee,  Shemrin,  and  in  Greek,  Samaria  (1  Kings  xvi:2i,  22). 
But,  to  use  the  illustration  of  Dean  Stanley,  as  if  Windsor  were 
to  take  the  place  of  London,  or  Versailles  that  of  Paris,  Samaria 
presently  supplanted  Shechem  as  the  capital  of  the  kingdom.  It  was 
in  every  way  as  well  situated.  Its  site  was  as  beautiful,  the  surrounding 
country  was  as  fertile;  and,  in  addition  to  these  advantages,  its  position, 
in  a  military  point  of  view,  was  incomparably  stronger.  Shechem,  with  the 
heights  of  Mount  Ebal  and  Mount  Gerizim  on  either  side  of  it,  was  utterly 


454 


SAMARIA. 


«>j4j 


indefensible,  while  Samaria,  with  its  almost  precipitous  sides  rising  sheer 
out  of  the  plain,  was  inexpugnable  in  an  age  in  which  artillery  was  un¬ 
known.  It  was  well  supplied  with  water  from  natural  springs,  and  in  suc¬ 
cessive  sieges  it  defied  the  assaults  of  its  enemies  longer  than  Jerusalem  was 
ever  able  to  hold  out  in  like  circumstances.  Its  only  danger  lay  in  the  im¬ 
possibility  of  obtaining  supplies  in  case  of  a  close  investment  by  a  numer¬ 
ous  army.  When  first  besieged  by  the  Syrian  king,  Benhadad,  it  was  able 
not  only  to  defend  itself,  but  to  repulse  the  enemy.  In  a  second  siege  by 
the  same  king  it  suffered  incredible  hardships  through  famine,  until  the 
enemy  fled  panic-stricken,  on  a  false  alarm  of  a  night  attack  by  fresh 
troops  which  were  supposed  to  have  come  to  the  relief  of  the  city  (2  Kings 
vii;viii).  The  situation  of  the  city,  during  a  siege,  is  well  described  by  Van 
de  Velde:  “As  the  mountains  around  the  hills  of  Shemer”  (he  says)  “are 
higher  than  that  hill  itself,  the  enemy  must  have  been  able  to  discover, 
clearly,  the  condition  of  the  besieged  Samaria.  The  inhabitants,  whether 
they  turned  their  eyes  upward  or  downward,  to  the  surrounding  hills,  or 
into  the  valley,  must  have  seen  all  full  of  enemies.  The  mountains  and  the 
adjacent  circle  of  hills  were  so  densely  occupied  by  the  enemy,  that  not  a 
man  could  pass  through  to  bring  provisions  to  the  beleaguered  city.  The 
Syrians  on  the  hills  must  have  been  able,  from  where  they  stood,  plainly 
to  see  the  famishing  inhabitants.” 

In  721  B.  C.  Samaria  was  taken  by  Shalmanezer,  King  of  Assyria,  but 
not  until  after  a  siege  of  three  years  (2  Kings  xviii:9-io),  and  then  the  in¬ 
habitants  were  carried  away  into  captivity.  With  the  fall  of  Samaria  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  ceased  to  exist.  The  blessings  of  Mount  Gerizim  had 
been  despised  and  misused;  the  curses  of  Mount  Ebal  were  reaped  in  a 
harvest  of  desolation. 

Soon  after  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  begins  the  history  of  the 
strange  people  who  are  known  in  history  as  the  Samaritans,  and  a  handful 
of  whom  still  exists.  The  Israelites  were  swept  clean  out  of  their  former 
territories.  Absolutely  none  were  left.  The  country  would  have  reverted 
into  the  condition  of  a  wilderness  if  a  new  population  had  not  been  sent 
into  it  by  Esarhaddon  (Ezra  iv:2-io).  The  Assyrian  king  “brought  men 
from  Babylon,  and  from  Cuthah,  and  from  Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and 
from  Sepharvaim,  and  placed  them  in  the  cities  of  Samaria,  instead  of 


SAMARIA 


455 


the  children  of  Israel,  and  they  possessed  the  cities  of  Samaria  and  dwelt 
therein”  (2  Kings  xvii:24).  These  strangers  were  idolaters,  of  course, 
and  in  common  with  most  idolaters  they  believed  in  gods  having  peculiar 
powers  over  particular  nations  and  districts.  Suffering  considerably  from 
the  wild  beasts  with  which  the  desolated  country  had  begun  to  be  infested 
and  supposing  themselves  to  be  obnoxious  to  the  God  of  the  land,  they 
appealed  to  Esarhaddon,  and  a  priest  of  the  captivity  was  sent  to  ‘‘teach 
them  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  land”  (2  Kings  xvii:  25-32).  For  a 


NABLOUS. 


time  the  worship  of  Jehovah  was  mingled  with  idolatry ;  but  at  length  the  Sam¬ 
aritans  became  entirely  monotheistic  and  as  scrupulous  in  their  observance 
of  the  law  as  the  Jews  themselves.  On  the  return  of  the  Judean  captives 
from  Babylon,  the  Samaritans  were  naturally  regarded  by  them  as  strang¬ 
ers  and  foreigners;  and  when  they  asked  permission  to  join  with  the  Jews 
in  rebuilding  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  their  offers  were  disdainfully  re- 


456 


SAMARIA. 


jected  (Ezra  iv:  i).  The  scorn  of  Zerubbabel  was  returned  with  hatred, 
and  the  Samaritans,  who  might  at  least  have  been  admitted  as  proselytes, 
became  formidable  and  vexatious  enemies.  Their  first  temple  or  taberna¬ 
cle  had  been  at  Bethel;  they  now  built  a  temple  at  Mount  Gerizim,  and 
after  a  time  Manasseh,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  priestly  line  of  Aaron, 
became  their  chief  priest.  Many  things  contributed  to  the  upbuilding  of 
the  Samaritan  people  and  their  religion,  such  as  the  rejection  at  Jerusalem 
of  the  priests  who  could  not  prove  their  priestly  lineage  (Neh.  vii  160-65), 
and  the  contumely  heaped  upon  the  “mixed  multitude”  in  whose  veins  the 
blood  of  the  patriarchs  had  been  mingled  with  a  baser  fluid  (Neh.  xiii:  1-3). 
To  these  unfortunates  Samaria  gave  a  cordial  welcome  and  full  credit  to 


their  genealogical  pretensions.  Discontented  Jews  always  found  a  hospit¬ 
able  asylum  in  Samaria;  and  in  time, 
by  intermarriage  with  Jewish  outcasts 
and  renegades,  the  whole  body  of  the 
Samaritan  people  must  have  come  to 
be  of  Israelitish  blood.  By  and  by 
a  belief  sprang  up  among  them  that 
they,  and  not  the  Jews,  were  the  true 
representatives  of  Israel,  and  that 
the  temple  on  Mount  Gerizim,  not 
the  temple  on  Mount  Moriah,  was 
the  one  place  which  God  had  chosen 
for  His  sanctuary.  They  maintained 


GATE  OF  NABLOUS. 


the  law  in  its  purity,  holding  and  observing  the  books  of  the  Penta¬ 
teuch  only,  and  they  accused  the  Jews  of  adulterating  the  truth  by  admit¬ 
ting  to  their  canon  many  other  books  which  the  purer  Samaritans  rejected 
and  anathematized.  Thus,  from  generation  to  generation,  the  feud  grew 
in  its  intensity  of  bitterness.  At  the  first  opportunity,  John  Hyrcanus 
destroyed  the  temple  on  Gerizim  and  leveled  Samaria  to  the  ground,  and 
this  act  of  hostility  was  never  forgiven.  After  its  destruction  by  Hyrca¬ 
nus,  Samaria  was  rebuilt  by  the  Roman  general  Gabinius.  The  Emperor 
Augustus  gave  it  to  Herod,  by  whom  it  was  splendidly  restored  and  forti¬ 
fied,  and  by  whom  also  it  was  called  Sebaste  (the  Greek  for  Augusta)  in 
honor  of  his  patron.  A  large  colony  of  soldiers  and  peasants  was  estab- 


SAMARIA 


457 


lished  there,  much  to  the  satisfaction,  and  equally  to  the  profit  of  the 
inhabitants.  Rejoicing  in  their  own  prosperity,  and  confident  in  the  strong 
protection  they  enjoyed,  the  Samaritans  took  every  opportunity  to  vex  the 
people  who  still  treated  them  with  unutterable  scorn.  In  every  way  they 
endeavored  to  disturb  the  rival  worship  of  the  Jews.  Ihey  observed  the 
signal  fires  upon  the  mountain  tops,  the  flaming  telegraph  by  which  the 


SUMMIT  OF  MOUNT  GER1ZIM. 


announcement  of  the  rising  of  the  paschal  moon  was  flashed  from  Jeru¬ 
salem  to  the  brethren  of  the  dispersion  at  Babylon,  and  they  lit  false  fires 
to  deceive  the  Babylonish  Jews. 

Within  the  life  time  of  our  Lord  (A.  D.  io)  they  were  accused  of 
defiling  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  itself.  The  submissive  alliance  of 
Samaria  was  assured  to  foreign  invaders  whom  the  Jews  abhorred.  Thus 
the  Samaritans  espoused  the  cause,  and  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  Herod 
and  the  Romans,  while  the  Jews  were  bitterly  implacable,  and  were  conse¬ 
quently  kept  down  with  an  iron  hand.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  hatred 


458 


SAMARIA. 


of  the  Jews  for  the  Samaritans.  In  comparison  with  the  sayings  of  the 
Rabbis,  the  language  of  Jesus,  the  son  of  Sirach,  is  mild:  “There  be  two 
manner  of  nations  which  my  heart  abhorreth,  and  the  third  is  no  nation; 
they  that  sit  on  the  mountain  of  Samaria,  and  they  that  dwell  among  the 
Philistines,  and  that  foolish  people  that  dwelleth  in  Sichem”  (Ecclus. 
i :  26,  27).  The  feeling  of  the  Jews  of  our  Lord’s  time  was  well  expressed 
in  the  logic  of  the  taunt,  “Thou  art  a  Samaritan  and  hast  a  devil!”  “No 
Israelite  could  lawfully  eat  even  a  mouthful  of  food  that  had  been  touched 
by  a  Samaritan,  for,  to  do  so  was  as  it  he  ate  the  flesh  of  swine.”  No 
Samaritan  was  allowed  to  become  a  proselyte,  nor  could  he  have  any  part 
in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  A  Jew  might  be  friendly  with  a  heathen, 
but  never  with  a  Samaritan,  and  all  bargains  made  with  one  were  invalid. 
The  testimony  of  a  Samaritan  could  not  be  taken  in  a  Jewish  court,  and 
to  receive  one  into  one’s  house  would  bring  down  the  curse  of  God.  It 
had  even  become  a  subject  of  warm  controversy  how  far  a  Jew  might  use 
the  food  or  fruit  grown  on  Samaritan  soil.  What  grows  on  trees  or  in 
fields  was  reckoned  clean,  but  it  was  doubtful  respecting  flour  or  wine.  A 
Samaritan  egg  as  the  hen  laid  it,  could  not  be  unclean,  but  what  of  a 
boiled  egg?  Yet  interest  and  convenience  strove,  by  subtle  casuistry,  to 
invent  excuses  for  what  intercourse  was  unavoidable.  The  country  of  the 
Cuthites  was  clean,  so  that  a  Jew  might,  without  scruple,  gather  and  eat 
its  produce.  The  waters  of  Samaria  were  clean,  so  that  a  Jew  might 
drink  them  or  wash  in  them.  Their  dwellings  were  clean,  so  that  he  might 
enter  them  and  eat  or  lodge  in  them.  Their  roads  were  clean,  so  that  the 
dust  of  them  did  not  defile  a  Jew’s  feet.  The  Rabbis  even  went  so  far 
in  their  contradictory  utterances,  as  to  say  that  the  victuals  of  the  Cuthites 
were  allowed,  if  none  of  their  wine  or  vinegar  were  mixed  with  them,  and 
even  their  unleavened  bread  was  to  be  reckoned  fit  for  use  at  the  Pass- 
over.  Opinions  thus  wavered,  but,  as  a  rule,  harsher  feelings  prevailed. 

The  assertion  by  the  Samaritans  of  a  peculiar  sanctity  in  the  seat  of 
their  temple  at  Mount  Gerizim  was  not  by  any  means  destitute  of  founda¬ 
tion.  Old  traditions,  antedating  the  time  when  the  tabernacle  of  God 
stood  there  in  the  life-time  of  Joshua,  clung  around  that  ancient  sanctuary, 
and  cling  around  it  still.  To  this  day  there  are  some  among  the  learned 
who  believe  that  Mount  Gerizim,  and  not  the  eastern  hill  of  Jerusalem,  is 


SAMARIA. 


459 


the  Mount  Moriah  on  which  Abraham  was  bidden  to  offer  up  his  son  Isaac, 
which  the  aged  patriarch  himself  called  Jehovah-jireh,  and  which  the 
writer  calls  ‘‘the  Mount  of  the  Lord’’  (Gen.  xxii:  1-14).  It  was  also 
believed,  and  it  is  still  by  some  believed,  to  have  been  the  meeting  place 
of  Abraham  with  Melchizedek,  King  of  Salim,  to  whom  Abraham  paid 
tithes,  and  after  whose  “order”  the  Messiah  was  to  be  “a  priest  forever.’’ 
Dean  Stanley,  for  instance,  believed  that  the  residence  of  that  mysterious 
king  was  where  the  town  of  Salim  now  stands  (Gen.  xiv:  17-20).  If  a  writer 
like  Dean  Stanley,  aftercareful  investigation,  and  on  purely  critical  grounds, 
could  declare  his  belief  in  the  traditions,  to  the  Samaritans  they  must 


RUINS  ON  THE  SUMMIT  OF  MOUNT  GERIZIM. 

have  seemed  indisputable.  But  the  legendary  traditions  of  the  Samari¬ 
tans  went  far  beyond  the  region  of  critical  probability.  They  represented 
Gerizim  as  the  paradise  in  which  Adam  was  made  of  the  dust  of  its  soil. 
To  this  day  their  descendants  show  the  spot  on  which  he  built  his  first 
altar,  and  also  the  spot  where  Seth  raised  his  altar  to  God.  Moreover 
Gerizim  was  Ararat,  the  mountain  on  which  the  ark  of  Noah  rested  after 
the  flood;  it  was  the  one  pure  spot  on  all  the  earth  which  the  waters  of  the 
deluge  did  not  cover,  and  which  the  corpses  of  the  dead  did  not  defile. 
There  was  the  place  where  Noah  and  his  family  came  forth  from  the  ark, 
and  every  Samaritan  could  show  the  seven  steps  of  the  altar  on  which  he 
offered  a  sacrifice.  Not  only  was  the  place  of  Abraham’s  altar  Jehovah- 


460 


SAMARIA. 


jireh  known  to  them;  Gerizim  was  the  true  Bethel,  and  they  knew  the  broad 
stone  on  which  the  head  of  Jacob  rested  when  he  saw  the  vision  of  the 
ladder  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven.  The  stones  which  Joshua  set  up 
with  the  law  written  upon  them  were  still  there;  there  Moses  had  person¬ 
ally  hidden  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  sanctuary;  and  it  was  there  that  the 
Messiah  should  appear. 

To  this  day  the  small  colony  of  that  peculiar  people  maintains  its 
worship  at  the  ancient  shrine,  though  their  temple  has  long  since  been 
swept  away.  Samaria  was  early  reached  by  Christianity  (Acts  viii:  5).  It 
became  a  Christian  see  and  to  this  day  a  Greek  Bishop  takes  title  from 
Sebaste  or  Sebastiyeh.  The  “New  City”  of  Shechem,  Neapolis  (now  Nab- 
lous)  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  new  religion;  and  therefore,  particularly  in 
the  sixth  century  after  Christ,  it  came  into  frequent  conflict  with  the 
power  of  the  then  Christian  empire.  The  Neapolitan  Samaritans  perse¬ 
cuted  the  Christians  and  destroyed  their  churches;  in  529  they  put  the 
bishop  to  death;  and  at  the  same  time  they  were  so  mad  as  to  make  Julian, 
one  of  their  leaders,  king  over  them.  The  Emperor  Justinian  sent  an  army 
against  them.  Many  of  the  insurgents  were  slaughtered;  many  fled  to 
Persia;  many  submitted  and  embraced  Christianity.  Their  synagogues 
were  destroyed.  They  were  completely  crushed.  In  the  history  of  the 
Crusades  they  are  not  even  mentioned.  In  the  twelfth  century  they  are 
said  to  have  had  only  about  a  thousand  adherents  at  Nablous  and  a  few  at 
Ascalon,  Caesarea  and  Damascus.  More  recently  they  are  known  to  have 
had  small  communities  at  Damascus  and  Cairo;  but  these  have  disap¬ 
peared.  They  are  now  to  be  found  only  at  Nablous,  and  there  they  are 
reduced  to  about  fifty  families,  who  occupy  a  separate  district  of  the  town 
in  which  their  forefathers  once  ruled. 

But  yet  the  line  of  their  priesthood  survives;  their  worship  is  main¬ 
tained;  the  law  of  Moses  is  read  among  them  every  Sabbath  day.  How 
punctiliously  they  perform  the  rites  of  their  religion  is  strikingly  illustrated 
in  the  account  given  of  their  celebration  of  the  Passover  by  the  accom¬ 
plished  writer  of  the  description  of  Nablous  in  Baedeker’s  “Palestine  and 
Syria.”  He  says:  “The  ascent  of  Mount  Gerizim  is  best  made  from  the 
west  corner  of  the  town,  and  through  the  valley  ascending  thence  toward 
the  south,  in  which  rises  the  copious  spring  Ras  el  Ain.  A  steep  climb  of 


SAMARIA. 


461 


twenty-five  minutes,  brings  us  to  a  lofty  plain,  where  we  turn  to  the  left 

and  soon  reach  the  spot  where  the  Samaritans  pitch  tents  at  the  feast  of 

the  Passover.  Thence  to  the  summit  is  a  walk  of  ten  minutes  more. 

“On  the  Greek  Palm  Sunday  of  1869  the  writer  had  an  opportunity  of 

witnessing  this  interesting  festival.  Seven  days  before  it  the  whole  of  the 

Samaritan  community 

had  repaired  hither  and 

encamped  in  this  basin, 

where  everything  wore  a 

gay,  holiday  aspect.  In 

the  tent  of  the  high  priest, 

where  we  partook  of  ^ 

coffee,  his  wife  was  £ 

> 

busied  in  preparing  the  5 

‘bitter  herbs,’  which  she  o 

mixed  with  unleavened  g 

dough.  Toward  sunset  o 

we  proceeded  to  the  > 

scene  of  the  sacrifice,  a  R 

> 

little  nearer  the  top  of  ^ 

the  mount.  On  a  care-  § 

> 

fully-tended  fire  of  twigs  2 
stood  large  cauldrons 
filled  with  water,  and  a 
few  paces  higher  up  there 
was  another  fire  in  a  deep 
pit,  also  carefully  supplied 
with  fuel.  To  the  right 
of  the  first  fire,  within  a 
space  enclosed  by  stones,  stood  twelve  men  in  white  surplices  and  turbans, 
representing  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  with  their  faces  turned  toward  the 
summit  of  the  mount,  and  chanting  passages  from  Scripture  and  prayers 
in  a  monotonous  tone.  On  a  block  of  stone  in  front  of  them  stood  a  young 
priest,  silently  joining  in  the  prayers  of  the  twelve.  Around  the  fire 
were  ranged  a  number  of  white-robed  men  and  boys,  holding  seven 


462  SAMARIA. 

white  lambs,  and  behind  them  stood  a  throng  of  women  and  children. 

As  soon  as  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  had  ceased  to  gild  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean,  the  high  priest  pronounced  a  blessing  three  times,  and  in  a  loud 
voice  repeated  the  passage: — ‘And  the  whole  assembly  of  the  congregation 
of  Israel  shall  kill  it  in  the  evening’  (Exod.  xii:6).  Thereupon  the  slaugh¬ 
terers,  who  had  already  tested  the  sharpness  of  their  knives  with  the  tips 
of  their  tongues,  instantly  cut  the  throats  of  the  lambs,  while  loudly  recit¬ 
ing  a  form  of  prayer.  The  twelve  now  approached  the  place  of  sacrifice, 
reading  aloud  the  above  chapter  of  Exodus.  When  they  came  to  the 
verse  which  requires  the  blood  to  be  struck  ‘on  the  two  side-posts  and  on 
the  upper  doorpost  of  the  houses’,  the  fathers  dipped  their  forefingers  in 
the  warm  blood  and  drew  a  line  with  it,  from  the  forehead  to  the  tip  of 
the  nose,  on  their  children’s  faces.  Meanwhile  the  chanting  continued 
until  a  straw  platter  with  the  bitter  herbs  was  placed  before  the  high  priest, 
who  handed  to  each  comer  his  portion.  The  men  reverently  kissed  the 
priest’s  hand  and  showed  the  same  mark  of  respect  to  the  elders  of  the 
community.  They  then  embraced  and  kissed  each  other,  expressing 
mutual  wishes  for  the  success  of  the  festival.  As  the  slaughterers  were 
not  permitted  to  leave  their  posts,  the  priest  thrust  their  portions  into 
their  mouths,  and  after  the  men  and  boys  had  all  partaken,  the  remainder 
was  distributed  among  the  women.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  removal  of 
the  wool  hot  water  was  poured  over  the  victims,  and  as  soon  as  this 
process  was  completed,  each  lamb  was  hung  by  the  hind-legs  on  a  piece  of 
wood  resting  on  the  shoulders  of  two  youths,  in  which  position  the  entrails 
were  removed.  The  animals  were  then  scrupulously  examined,  great  care 
being  taken  lest  they  should  be  polluted  by  the  too  near  approach  of 
strangers. 

“One  of  the  lambs  was  pronounced  by  the  high  priest  to  be  affected 
with  a  blemish,  whereupon  it  was  immediately  thrown  into  the  fire,  to 
which  were  also  consigned  the  wool,  the  entrails,  and  the  right  fore-legs  of 
the  other  victims.  The  lambs  were  now  rubbed  with  salt,  hung  on  long 
poles  and  carried  to  the  pit  containing  the  second  fire.  At  a  certain  pas¬ 
sage  in  the  prayers  they  were  suddenly  thrown  in;  bundles  of  twigs  were 
then  speedily  placed  over  the  mouth  of  the  pit,  and  the  opening  closed 
with  pieces  of  turf. 


I 


/ 


SAMARIA. 


463 


“The  twelve  surpliced  men  now  returned  to  their  enclosure  and  read 
on  unremittingly  till  midnight.  The  pit  was  then  opened,  and  the  roasted 
lambs  were  taken  out,  and  carried  in  new  straw-baskets  to  the  enclosure, 
where  they  were  eaten  in  haste  by  the  men,  in  a  crouching  attitude,  and 
with  staves  in  their  left  hands.  The  white-robed  men,  in  profound  silence 


CYLINDER  INCLOSING  THE  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  INSCRIPTION 

SAMARITAN  PENTATEUCH.  ON  THE  CYLINDER. 

thus  eating  the  Passover,  presented  a  peculiarly  solemn  and  impressive 
scene.  At  length  the  hour  arrived  for  the  morning  prayer  of  four  hours’ 
duration,  whereupon  we  quitted  the  place.” 

In  order  to  complete  our  survey  of  this  most  interesting  district,  we 
may  here  very  greatly  condense  the  vivid  description  of  Nablous,  given  by 


464 


SAMARIA. 


Miss  Rogers  in  “Picturesque  Palestine,”  and  Dr.  Geikie’s  equally  vivid 
account  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim. 

With  Miss  Rogers  for  our  guide,  we  take  the  road  from  Jacob’s  Well 
in  a  northwesterly  direction,  skirting  the  base  of  Gerizim.  “From  Jacob’s 
Well  the  road  takes  a  northwesterly  direction,  skirting  the  base  of  Gerizim. 
On  the  right  is  the  pasture-land  of  Jacob,  yielding  abundant  harvests  of 
wheat,  barley,  beans,  lentils,  sesamum,  cotton,  and  tobacco,  and  a  wealth  of 
wild  flowers  on  every  uncultivated  patch  of  ground.  A  spur  of  Gerizim  runs 
northward  as  if  to  meet  a  corresponding  but  less  developed  spur  advancing 
southward  from  Ebal,  the  twin  mountain  opposite;  the  point  of  their  near¬ 
est  approach  is  the  true  entrance  to  the  Valley  of  Shechem.  As  we  follow 
the  path  around  the  northern  extremity  of  Gerizim,  the  whole  length  of 
the  valley  comes  suddenly  into  sight,  with  its  terraced  hillsides,  its  running 
streams,  and  olive-groves  and  orchards  above  which  the  mosques  and 
minarets  and  white  house-tops  of  Nablus  appear,  rather  more  than  half  a 
mile  distant.” 

We  pass  the  spring  of  Defneh  (Daphne)  and  then  the  new  barracks,, 
to  build  which  many  of  the  stones  of  the  ruins  around  Jacob’s  Well  were 
carried  away.  Here  the  valley  seems  to  widen  again,  for  the  steep  slope 
of  Gerizim  is  broken  by  a  deep  wady  which  forms  a  vast  natural  amphi¬ 
theatre.  Immediately  opposite  there  is  a  corresponding  ravine  reaching 
almost  to  the  summit  of  Ebal.  It  has  been  conjectured  by  several  writers, 
that  it  was  here  that  Joshua,  after  having  taken  possession  of  the  Promised 
Land,  assembled  the  tribes  of  Israel;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
more  appropriate  spot  for  the  celebration  of  the  solemn  ceremonies 
described  in  Deut.  xxvii  and  Josh,  viii:  30-35. 

The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  is  lost,  and  the  children  of  Israel  are  scat¬ 
tered.  Instead  of  the  ark,  we  see  in  the  valley  a  few  Bedouin  tents  and 
camels,  and  Arab  laborers  at  work  in  the  fields  and  orchards;  instead  of 
the  tribes  of  Israel,  we  see  detachments  of  Turkish  soldiers  hurrying 
toward  the  new  barracks. 

We  hasten  onward,  with  Gerizim  on  our  left  and  Ebal  a  little  farther 
off  on  our  right,  but  they  are  gradually  approaching  each  other.  We  cross 
and  recross  winding  streams  and  artificial  watercourses  in  gardens  and 
cultivated  fields,  then  pass  through  picturesque  olive-groves  where  the  way- 


SAMARIA. 


465 


sides  are  in  many  places  brightened  with  wild  flowers  and  patches  of 
self-sown  barley.  In  a  few  minutes  we  enter  the  eastern  gate  of  Nablus. 
Nablus  is  a  contraction  and  corruption  of  “Flavia  Neapolis,”  as  the  city  was 
called  when  it  was  almost  rebuilt  by  Titus  Flavius  Vespasian. 

The  town,  which  is  almost  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long,  is  built  in  the 
narrowest  part  of  the  valley,  where  it  is  only  one  hundred  yards  wide.  It 
is  said  that  there  are  eight  springs  of  water  in  and  about  Nablus,  each 
having  its  special  name.  The  water  is  conveyed  to  mosques,  public  build¬ 
ings  and  private  houses.  Many  of  the  streets  have  channels  of  clear  water 


TWO  PAGES  OF  THE  SAMARITAN  PENTATEUCH. 

running  through  them.  After  being  thus  utilized,  the  streams  on  the  west¬ 
ern  side  of  the  city  are  allowed  to  unite  and  form  a  stream  which  turns 
several  mills  and  flows  toward  the  Mediterranean;  those  on  the  eastern 
side  irrigate  the  gardens,  and  then,  with  a  rather  abrupt  fall,  flow  toward 
the  Jordan. 

There  are  no  very  ancient  buildings  in  Nablus,  and  scarcely  anything 
remains  to  remind  us  of  the  “New  City”  of  Flavius  but  the  mutilated  ves¬ 
tige  of  its  name.  The  Crusaders,  however,  have  left  several  memorials  of 
their  influence  here.  We  at  once  recognize  their  work  in  the  facade  of  the 


466 


SAMARIA. 


principal  mosque,  which  was  originally  a  church  dedicated  to  St.  John.  It 
is  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  city,  and  is  called  Jamia  el  Kebir  (the  Great 
Mosque). 

From  this  point  we  enter  the  bazaars,  which  are  better  built  and  kept 
in  better  order  than  those  of  Jerusalem.  There  are  small  arcades  devoted 
to  the  sale  of  tobacco;  others  are  filled  with  the  odors  of  lemons,  oranges, 
citrons  and  shaddocks.  The  long,  narrow  bazaar,  where  dried  fruits,  olives, 
rice,  cheese  and  butter  are  sold,  leads  to  another  Christian  church  of  the 
twelfth  century,  now  converted  into  a  mosque  called  Jamia  el  Nisr,  the 
Mosque  of  the  Eagle.  Making  a  detour  through  a  street  almost  blocked  up 
with  camels,  we  pass  into  the  principal  bazaar,  the  finest  arcade  in  Pales¬ 
tine.  Here  the  European  goods  are  displayed,  such  as  Manchester  cottons, 
Sheffield  cutlery,  Bohemian  glasses  for  narghilehs,  and  trinkets  of  all  kinds 
from  Marseilles.  But  the  brightest  shops  are  those  in  which  Damascus 
and  Aleppo  silks,  embroidered  jackets,  and  crimson  tarbushes  appear,  with 
stores  of  Turkish  pipes  and  amber  rosaries  from  Stamboul,  and  glass 
bracelets  from  Hebron.  An  opening  in  this  arcade  leads  into  the  khan  on 
the  north  side  of  the  city,  the  Khan  of  the  Merchants  (Khan  Tujjar).  It 
consists  of  an  extensive  square  space  enclosed  by  a  two-storied  range  of 
buildings.  A  stone  stairway  leads  to  the  terraced  roof,  from  whence  there 
is  an  interesting  view  in  every  direction.  The  chief  trade  of  Nablus  is  in 
wool,  cotton,  olive  oil,  and  soap  of  excellent  quality,  and  goat-skins  in  great 
numbers  are  converted  into  khirbehs  for  carrying  water.  Sometimes  the 
floor  of  this  khan  may  be  seen  half  covered  with  the  inflated  skins  laid  out 
for  seasoning.  Returning  to  the  arcade,  we  pursue  our  way  westward 
through  narrow  bazaars,  where  smiths,  carpenters,  weavers,  tailors,  and 
shoemakers  may  be  seen  at  work;  then  turning  southward,  we  traverse 
tortuous  lanes  and  gloomy  streets,  arched  at  intervals  and  built  over  in 
many  places,  till  we  reach  a  passage  which  leads  us  out  of  the  town  just 
opposite  to  the  terraced  gardens  on  the  slopes  of  Gerizim,  where  flourish 
all  ‘the  precious  fruits  brought  forth  by  the  sun’  (Deut.  xxxiii:  14).  Oranges, 
lemons,  figs,  apricots,  pomegranates,  mulberries,  walnuts,  grapes,  and 
almonds  follow  each  other  in  due  season,  and  hedges  of  cactus  afford  the 
cooling  fruit  commonly  called  the  prickly  pear.  On  one  of  these  garden 
terraces  Jotham,  perhaps,  stood  when  he  cried,  ‘Hearken  unto  me,  ye  men 


SAMARIA. 


467 


of  Shechem,’  and  spoke  his  parable  of  the  fruit-trees  and  of  the  bramble, 
with  olive,  fig-trees,  and  vines  around  him,  and  thorns  and  brambles 
overgrowing  the  landmarks  (Judges  ix:  7-2 1).  From  a  certain  point  in 
these  gardens,  turning  toward  the  northwest,  we  see  the  outline  of  the 
western  heights  of  Ebal,  and  in  the  foreground,  the  tall  square  tower 
(remarkably  like  the  White  Tower  of  Ramleh)  which  adjoins  the  Mosque 
El  Khadra,  the  Green  Mosque,  another  appropriated  church  of  the  Cru¬ 
saders.  In  the  front  of  this  tower,  a  slab  is  fixed,  on  which  there  is  a 
Samaritan  inscription.  The  Samaritans  state  that  they  once  had  a  syna¬ 
gogue  on  this  spot,  which  is  popularly  known  as  the  Mukam  Hizn  Yakub, 
that  is,  ‘the  Place  of  the  Mourning  of  Jacob,’  for,  according  to  local  tradi¬ 
tion,  it  was  here  that  Jacob  stood  when  the  coat  of  his  beloved  son  Joseph 
was  brought  to  him,  and  where,  believing  him  to  be  dead,  ‘he  mourned  for 
him  many  days.’  But  the  chief  interest  of  Nablus  is  centered  in  a  little 
group  of  irregularly  built  houses,  clustered  closely  together  in  the  south¬ 
west  quarter,  the  most  crowded  part  of  the  city. 

Here  we  find  the  last  remnant  of  the  once  powerful  Samaritan  commu¬ 
nity.  In  1874  they  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  individuals,  of 
whom  twenty-eight  were  married  couples,  ten  were  widows  advanced  in 
years,  forty-nine  were  unmarried  men  and  young  boys,  and  twenty  were 
young  girls,  many  of  whom  were  already  promised  in  marriage.  Since 
this  date,  the  numbers  have  decreased.  Several  marriages  have,  however, 
taken  place.  Their  only  synagogue  now  is  a  small  unadorned  building, 
the  approach  to  which  is  a  crooked,  uncovered,  steep  stone  stairway 
leading  to  an  open  court,  where  a  lemon-tree  grows  near  to  an  arched 
doorway,  through  which  no  one  is  allowed  to  enter  until  he  has  ‘put  off  his 
shoes.’  The  nave  is  lighted  by  a  circular  aperture  in  the  vaulted  roof,  as 
is  also  the  northeast  transept  through  which  we  enter.  On  the  southeast 
side,  which  is  in  the  direction  of  the  ‘Holy  Place’  on  Gerizim,  there  is  a 
veiled  recess  to  which  the  priests  alone  have  access.  The  veil  which  is 
commonly  used  consists  of  a  large  square  curtain  of  white  damask  linen, 
ornamented  very  skillfully  with  applique  work,  apparently  of  the  six¬ 
teenth  century,  though  the  Samaritans  regard  it  as  much  older;  pieces  of 
red,  purple,  and  green  linen  cut  into  various  forms  are  sewn  on  it  so  as 
to  form  a  complete  and  harmonious  design. 


468 


SAMARIA. 


Within  the  veil  are  preserved  with  jealous  care,  among  other  literary 
treasures,  three  very  ancient  copies  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  one  of 
which  is  said  to  have  been  written  by  Abishua,  the  great-grandson  of 
Aaron.  This  celebrated  roll  of  the  law,  which  is  probably  of  the  third 
century  of  our  era,  is  preserved  in  a  cylindrical  silver  gilt  case,  opening  as 
a  triptych  does  on  two  sets  of  hinges.  The  outside  of  the  case  is  embossed 
and  in  some  parts  engraved.  On  one  of  the  divisions  there  is  a  represen¬ 
tation  of  the  Tabernacle  of  the  Wilderness  with  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 

altars,  candlesticks,  trum¬ 
pets,  and  various  sacri¬ 
ficial  implements,  with 
explanatory  inscriptions. 
The  two  other  divisions 
of  the  cylinder  are  orna¬ 
mented  with  conventional 
designs  in  repouss  work. 
This  case  is  said  by 
experts  to  be  Venetian 
work  of  the  fourteenth 
or  fifteenth  century.  The 
Samaritans  regard  it  as  much  older.  The  roll  itself  is  composed  of  pre¬ 
pared  goat-skins  twenty-five  inches  high  and  about  fifteen  feet  wide;  they 
are  neatly  joined  together,  but  in  many  places  have  been  torn  and  rather 
clumsily  repaired  with  parchment  of  various  qualities.  This  much-prized 
volume  is  exhibited  to  the  congregation  once  a  year  by  the  priest  and  his 
assistant,  the  ministering  priest.  The  ceremony  takes  place  on  their  only 
fast  day,  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  then  the  people,  young  and  old,  are 
permitted  to  kiss  that  part  of  the  roll  on  which  the  Aaronic  blessings  are 
inscribed;  the  consequence  is  that  the  blessings  are  by  degrees  disappear¬ 
ing.  A  crimson  satin  cover,  on  which  Samaritan  inscriptions  are  embroid¬ 
ered  in  gold  thread,  envelopes  the  treasure. 

During  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  the  Samaritans,  when  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  for  them  to  do  so,  close  their  houses  in  the  city  and  live  in  tents  pitched  in 
the  form  of  a  half -circle  on  a  sheltered  plateau  at  some  distance  below  the 
summit  of  Mount  Gerizim  (Jebel  et  Tur).  Sometimes  they  go  there  a  few 


SAMARIA. 


469 


days  earlier,  but  more  frequently  they  only  remain  on  the  mountain  for 
two  days,  to  celebrate  the  sacrifice  of  the  Passover,  and  to  partake  of  it 
during  the  intervening  night.” 

Under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Geikie,  we  make  the  ascent  of  Mount  Ger- 
izim  on  horseback.  “The  ascent  of  Gerizim  is  made  on  horseback,  but  a 
good  part  of  the  way  is  so  steep  that  it  seems  wonderful  that  the  beasts 
can  keep  their  footing  among  the  loose  stones.  Passing  up  behind  the 
town  you  come  very  soon  to  a  magnificent  fountain,  the  water  of  which  is 
led  eastward  by  an  open  water  course.  At  this  copious  source  some  women 
are  drawing  for  their  households,  others  are  washing  their  unsavory  linen; 
men  are  enjoying  their  ablutions,  and  boys  are  playing  in  the  water. 
Gardens  climb  the  hill  on  the  left  of  the  track,  beautiful  with  every  fruit 
tree  that  grows  in  Palestine;  at  some  places  grain  is  springing  up  vigor¬ 
ously  on  terraces  raised  upon  slopes  so  steep  that  it  seems  impossible  for 
their  walls  to  stand.  Vines,  olives  and  figs  fill  stray  nooks;  but  the  part  of 
the  hill  up  which  our  horses  have  to  toil  is  too  stony  for  cultivation.  At 
several  places  there  are  bold  cliffs  which  seem  to  overhang  the  town,  sev¬ 
eral  of  them  forming  natural  pulpits,  from  any  one  of  which  Jotham  may 
have  delivered  his  famous  parable,  the  earliest  of  which  we  know  (Judg. 
ix:  7)- 

After  a  weary  climb  we  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain,  but  we  have 
a  long  way  to  ride  before  we  arrive  at  the  farther  end.  The  narrow  pla¬ 
teau,  now  sloping  upward,  now  undulating,  now  consisting  of  rough  shelves 
of  rock,  is  partly  ploughed  for  grain,  partly  sown;  stone  walls  separated 
some  of  the  patches,  and  a  terraced  road  at  one  point  stretched  for  a  good 
distance  The  spot  where  the  Samaritans  still  sacrifice  seven  Paschal 
lambs  is  very  near  the  east  end  of  the  ridge,  close  to  the  true  peak  of 
Gerizim.  A  pit,  or  “tannur,”  in  which  the  lambs  are  roasted,  is  all  that 
appears  of  last  year’s  solemnity.  Beyond  this  to  the  east,  the  highest 
part  of  the  mountain  is  crowned  with  the  ruins  of  a  castle  and  a  church;  a 
Greek  cross  remaining  over  one  of  the  gateways  of  the  former.  It  dates 
from  the  early  age  of  the  Greek  emperors,  having  been  built  apparently 
by  Justinian,  or  at  a  yet  earlier  period.  The  church  has  been  quite  leveled 
with  the  ground,  but  some  courses  of  the  castle  walls  are  still  standing. 

A  rock  is  pointed  out — merely  a  sloping  shelf  of  limestone — on  which 


470 


SAMARIA. 


Joshua  is  said  to  have  reared  the  Tabernacle;  and  a  little  rock-sunk  trench 
is  dignified  as  the  scene  of  Abraham’s  sacrifice.  Joshua  as  we  know, 
wrote  the  whole  law  on  stones  which  he  set  up  on  Ebal  (Deut.  xxvii:  2-8); 
coating  them  with  the  almost  imperishable  cement  of  the  country,  and 
*  writing  on  it,  either  with  paint  or  with  an  iron  style  or  pen,  while  it  was 
soft.  Such  a  mode  of  preserving  writing  was  common  in  antiquity,  and 
in  so  dry  a  climate  would  last  almost  forever.  The  Samaritans  believe 
that  ‘the  twelve  stones'  thus  inscribed  are  still  in  existence  on  the  top  of 
Mount  Gerizim,  but  Sir  Charles  Wilson  and  Major  Anderson  excavated 
the  large  masses  of  rudely  hewn  stone  supposed  to  be  those  of  Joshua, 
and  found  them  to  be  little  better  than  mere  natural  slabs. 

The  natural  amphitheater  formed  by  the  receding  of  Mounts  Ebal  and 
Gerizim  at  the  same  point  in  the  valley  below,  is  wonderfully  suited  to 
such  an  incident  as  that  of  reading  the  law  to  the  Hebrews,  at  the  great 
assembly  of  a  nation  after  the  taking  of  Ai  by  Joshua  (Deut.  xxvii:  12: 
Josh,  viii:  34).  No  sight  could  well  have  been  grander  than  this  singular 
spectacle;  the  Levites  in  their  white  robes,  guarding  the  sacred  ark  on  the 
gentle  rise — the  Shechem,  or  shoulder,  which  parts  the  waters  flowing  to 
the  Dead  Sea  from  those  running  toward  the  Mediterranean — and  'all 
Israel,  and  their  elders,  and  officers,  and  their  judges,’  in  two  vast  compa¬ 
nies,  lining  the  sides  of  the  two  mountains,  tribe  by  tribe,  in  ascending 
ranks,  from  the  valley  to  the  utmost  height;  the  glorious  sky  over  them  as 
the  only  fitting  roof  of  such  a  temple.  That  all  the  assembled  myriads 
could  easily  hear  the  words  of  the  Levites  admits  of  no  question,  for  the 
air  of  Palestine  is  so  clear  and  dry  that  the  voice  can  be  heard  at  distances 
much  greater  than  the  residents  of  other  countries  would  suppose.  Sir 
Charles  Wilson  tells  us,  for  example,  that  the  Arab  workmen  on  the  top  of 
Gerizim  often  conversed  without  effort  with  men  passing  along  the  valley 
beneath. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim  is  of  amazing  extent  and 
interest — the  bare  and  desolate:  slopes  of  Ebal,  watered  only  by  rain  from 
cisterns  on  the  successive  terraces  that  have  been  raised  with  much  labor 
on  its  sides,  since  all  the  springs  run  through  the  strata  to  the  north  side 
of  the  mountain;  the  cactus  gardens  on  the  lower  terraces;  the  corn  ris¬ 
ing  on  many  of  those  higher  up,  but  the  great  bare  mass  of  the  hill  swell- 


SAMARIA 


4/1 


ing  to  the  sky  above;  the  valley  below,  with  its  gardens  and  orchards,  the 
mosque  at  Joseph’s  Tomb,  the  Well  of  Samaria,  and  just  outside  on  the 
plain,  the  village  of  Sychar — a  poor  hamlet  on  the  rocky  slope  of  Ebal,  which 
swells  up  in  slow  waves  behind  it;  the  glorious  Plain  of  Makhnah — ‘the 
Encampment’ — with  its  fields  of  rich  brown  tilth;  stray  villages  on  its  low 
undulations;  clumps  of  olives  behind  them;  and  on  the  other  side,  to  the 
east,  a  long  succession  of  round-topped  hills,  cultivated  in  terraces  where- 


JOSEPH  SOLD  BY  HIS  BRETHREN.  (GEN.  XXVII :  23-28. ) 


ever  there  is  a  shelf  for  soil;  while  the  distant  landscape  is  sprinkled  with 
olives,  their  gray  intermixed  with  the  green  of  the  cornfields.  On  the 
west  we  could  see  Joppa,  thirty-six  miles  off,  at  the  sea;  to  the  east,  the 
chasm  of  the  Jordan,  eighteen  miles  distant;  while  at  our  feet,  as  if  to 
bring  us  back  from  poetry  to  prose,  the  poles  of  the  telegraph  from  Joppa 


/ 


> 


472 


SAMARIA. 


stood  up  in  their  barrenness  along  the  valley,  running  past  Jacob’s  Well, 
and  then  south  to  Jerusalem  and  Egypt,  and  east  to  Gilead. 

The  view  from  Ebal,  however,  is  even  finer.  On  the  north  you  see 
Safed,  “the  city  set  on  a  hill”  (Matt,  v:  14),  and  the  snowy  head  of  Mount 
Hermon,  with  “Thirza,”  once  the  capital  of  the  northern  kingdom,  famed 
for  its  beauty  (Cant,  vi  14;  1  Kings:  17;  xv:2i,  33;  xvi:S),  shining  out  on 
a  very  steep  hill  a  little  way  beyond  the  plain;  on  the  west,  Joppa  and 
Ramleh,  and  the  sea;  on  the  south,  the  hills  over  Bethel;  and  on  the 
east,  the  great  plain  of  the  Hauran,  beyond  the  Jordan.  A  striking  ruin 
on  the  summit  of  the  mountain  gives  romance  even  to  the  Hill  of  Curses. 
The  enclosure  is  over  ninety  feet  square,  and  the  walls  are  no  less  than 
twenty  feet  thick,  strongly  built  of  selected  unhewn  stones,  without  mortar, 
with  the  remains  of  chambers  ten  feet  square  inside.  Within  the  building, 
however,  is  a  cistern,  and  round  it  are  the  heaps  of  stones  and  ruins.  Exca¬ 
vation  has  thrown  no  light  on  the  history  of  the  structure.  It  is  too  small 
for  a  church,  for  there  is  only  a  space  fifty  feet  square  inside  the  amazing 
walls,  and  there  is  no  trace  of  any  plaster  or  cement,  such  as  is  associated 
with  the  incident  of  the  great  stones  which  Joshua  set  up,  or  with  any  altar 
that  he  may  have  raised  on  the  mountain.  Strange  to  say,  some  peasant 
had  carried  his  plough  up  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  had  raised  a  fine 
crop  of  lentils,  perhaps  in  the  hope  that,  at  such  a  height,  they  might 
escape  the  greedy  eyes  of  the  Turkish  officials.” 

It  is  well  worth  while  to  have  given  a  special  study  to  this  most  inter¬ 
esting  region,  because  it  is  one  of  the  few  places  in  the  Holy  Land  in 
which  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  we  are  standing  on  the  very  ground 
which  was  once  trod  by  the  Saviour’s  feet,  that  we  are  gazing  on  the 
scenes  on  which  He  looked,  and  that  we  are  recollecting  some  of  the  ten 
thousand  things  of  which  He  must  have  thought.  Jesus  did  not  only  pass 
through  Samaria;  He  remained  for  two  days  among  the  simple,  kindly, 
hospitable  folk  who  heard  Him  so  gladly  (John  iv:4o,  43);  and  when  He 
left  Samaria,  He  contrasted  the  honor  He  had  there  received  with  the 
indifference  of  his  own  countrymen  (John  iv :  44). 

Nablous,  too,  is  well  worthy  of  study,  not  only  on  account  of  its  his¬ 
torical  interest  and  the  strange  people  of  whom  the  last  remnant  seems  to 
be  slowly  dying  out  there,  but  because,  in  the  opinion  of  many  competent 


SAMARIA. 


473- 


persons,  and  certainly  in  the  opinion  of  the  present  writer,  Nablous  is  the 
Sychar  of  the  Gospel.  Unless  the  village  of  Asker  formerly  stood  much 
nearer  to  Jacob’s  Well  than  it  does  now,  It  seems  to  be  incredible  that  the 
woman  who  went  to  that  well  to  draw  water  should  needlessly  have  gone 
so  far  for  so  homely  a  purpose.  True,  the  modern  Nablous  is  more  dis¬ 
tant  from  the  well  than  Asker,  but  at  that  time  it  is  probable  that  the 
town  stretched  much  further  down  into  the  valley;  and,  even  now,  the 
barracks  of  Nablous  are  considerably  nearer  than  Asker  to  the  well.  In 
short,  the  conjecture  seems  to  be  something  more  than  reasonable,  that 
Sychar  may  have  been  the  name  given  to  the  outlying  suburbs  of  the 
main  city,  and  that  poor  little  Asker  is  only  a  remnant  of  extensive  sub¬ 
urbs  which  once  stretched  far  down  into  the  valley  and  along  the  base-lines 
of  the  two  lofty  hills.  Certainly,  the  language  of  the  Gospel  implies  that 
Sychar  was  a  populous  town,  and  not  merely  a  village;  and  we  have  no 
knowledge  of  any  other  such  town  near  Jacob’s  Well  except  Shechem.  It 
therefore  seems  to  be  almost  certain,  that  it  was  in  Shechem  that  Jesus 
tarried  preaching  to  Samaritans  for  those  two  memorable  days. 

The  Christian  tradition  of  the  site  of  Jacob’s  Well  dates  back  to  the 
fourth  century.  Early  in  the  fifth  century  a  church  had  been  erected  there, 
but  by  the  time  of  the  Crusaders  it  had  disappeared.  Its  ruins,  and  the 
stones  cast  into  it  by  travelers  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  the  splash  of  the 
water  far  beneath  the  opening,  have  probably  much  more  than  half  filled 
up  the  well.  In  1697,  it  is  recorded  to  have  been  105  feet  deep,  and  to 
have  had  fifteen  feet  of  water.  In  1838,  it  still  had  a  depth  of  105  feet, 
but  it  was  found  to  be  dry.  In  the  following  year,  with  the  same  depth, 
it  held  ten  to  twelve  feet  of  water.  In  1840,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Bonar,  who 
accidentally  dropped  his  Bible  into  the  well,  heard  the  book  ‘‘plunging 
into  the  water  far  below.”  Strangely  enough,  the  book  was  recovered 
three  years  later;  and  then,  as  in  1866  and  in  1877,  the  depth  of  the  well 
was  found  to  be  only  seventy-five  feet.  By  what  means  thirty  feet  of 
depth  was  filled  up  in  the  four  years  between  1839  and  1843,  is  not  known. 

In  1866  Capt.  Anderson,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  made  a  descent  of  the 
well  with  some  danger  and  even  suffering,  for  he  fainted  while  descending, 
and  found  himself  lying  at  the  bottom,  with  the  opening  above  him  looking 
like  a  star.  Nevertheless,  he  succeeded  in  making  the  observations  which 


474 


SAMARIA. 


were  the  object  of  his  difficult  investigation.  He  states  that  the  mouth  of 
the  well  is  “just  wide  enough  to  allow  the  body  of  a  man  to  pass  through 
with  his  arms  uplifted.  The  narrow  neck,  which  is  about  four  feet  long, 
resembling  the  neck  of  a  bottle,  opens  out  into  the  well  itself,  which  is 
cylindrical  and  about  seven  feet  six  inches  in  diameter.  The  mouth  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  well  is  built  of  masonry,  and  the  well  appears  to  have 
been  sunk  through  a  mixture  of  alluvial  soil  and  limestone  fragments,  till 
a  compact  bed  of  limestone  was  reached,  having  horizontal  strata 
which  could  be  easily  worked.  The  interior  of  the  well  presents  the 
appearance  of  being  lined  with  rough  masonry.”  The  reason  why  the 
patriarch  should  have  undertaken  so  great  and  difficult  a  work  as  the  sink¬ 
ing  of  this  well,  when  there  were  magnificent  springs  gushing  from  the 
sides  and  roots  of  Mount  Gerizim,  must  have  been  the  jealousy  with  which 
the  right  of  property  in  springs  and  wells  is  guarded  in  the  East.  At  any 
moment  his  flocks  and  herds  might  have  been  deprived  of  water  by  the 
owners  of  the  neighboring  springs,  who  would  not  willingly  see  a  customary 
use  of  their  property  growing  into  a  sort  of  right  in  the  user.  To  avoid  all 
such  difficulties  and  the  cause  which  might  lead  to  them,  it  was  doubtless 
prudent  in  Jacob  to  dig  a  cistern  on  the  parcel  of  ground  which  he  had 
acquired  by  purchase,  and  from  which,  at  the  depth  it  originally  had,  he 
could  expect  to  find  a  never  failing  supply  of  water  for  his  flocks  and 
herds. 

Above  and  around  the  well,  as  it  is  now,  there  is  nothing  of  import¬ 
ance,  except  the  stones  of  the  chapel  which  was  built  there  in  the  fifth 
century.  The  mouth  of  the  well  is  covered  with  great  stones  with  an  orifice 
large  enough  for  the  leathern  bottles  of  the  peasants  to  pass  through  it. 
From  the  well  the  ground  slopes  up  to  the  fragments  of  the  broken  wall, 
and  the  visitor  must  let  himself  down  as  best  he  can  to  reach  the  orifice. 

It  was  beside  this  ancient  cistern,  that  our  Saviour,  weary  with  his 
long  march,  sat  down  to  rest.  It  was  high  noon;  it  could  not  have  been 
morning  or  evening,  for  then  the  well  would  have  been  surrounded  with 
girls  and  women  coming  to  draw  water  for  their  families.  At  that  unusual 
hour  came  one  woman  alone,  perhaps  because  other  women,  had  they  been 
there,  would  have  cruelly  taunted  her  with  the  disreputable  life  she  had 
led.  The  Stranger  knew  her,  though  she  did  not  know  Him,  and  asked 


SAMARIA. 


475 


her  to  give  Him  water  to  drink.  The  woman  was  astonished,  and  well 
she  might  be;  for  the  Man  was  a  Jew,  and  the  Jews  had  no  dealings  with 
the  Samaritans.  Besides,  it  was  contrary  to  Eastern  etiquette  for  a  rabbi 
to  address  a  woman  not  of  his  own  family.  The  Talmud  goes  so  far  as  to 


SENDING  OUT  THE  TWELVE.  (MARK  VI:  8.) 


say  that  no  rabbi  “is  to  speak  with  a  woman  in  a  public  place,  or  to  take 
any  notice  of  her,  even  if  she  be  his  wife.”  Perhaps  this  poor  woman  was 
not  accustomed  to  be  courteously  addressed  either  by  men  or  by  women. 
At  all  events,  she  answered  him  with  evident  surprise.  “My  lord,”  she 
said,  “how  is  it  that  thou,  thou  who  art  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me,  a 
Samaritan  woman.” 

Into  the  wonderful  discourse  which  followed  we  may  not  enter  in  this 
work.  That  is  the  loftier  theme  of  preachers  and  commentators;  but  be¬ 
fore  it  was  closed,  the  woman  had  found  reason  to  cry  out  “My  lord,  I  per- 


4/6 


SAMARIA. 


ceive  that  thou  art  a  prophet!”  and  before  the  two  days  of  His  sojourn  in 
that  town  among  the  hated  Samaritans,  were  over,  both  she  and  they  had 
learned  to  “know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Christ,  the  Savior  of  the  world!” 

Then,  after  those  two  days  of  refreshment,  thinking  of  the  fields 
which  He  saw  whitening  for  the  harvest  of  the  gospel,  of  the  living  water 
which,  unknown  to  them,  He  had  been  showering  on  their  souls,  and 
then  again  of  the  few  laborers  who  were  willing  to  reap  that  harvest  of 
redeemed  souls,  Jesus  went  on  His  way  from  the  fair  vale  of  Shechem,  past 
Samaria,  then  in  all  the  pride  of  its  Herodian  magnificence,  now  a  mere 
village  with  many  ruins. 

On  a  terrace  which  ran  round  the  summit  of  the  hill  was  then  a  stately 
colonnade  1,000  yards  in  length,  with  pillars  which  (including  base  and 
capital)  must  have  been  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  high,  now  all  bro¬ 
ken,  and  many  of  them  buried  in  the  ground.  On  the  western  end,  on 
an  artificial  terrace  which  is  now  used  as  a  threshing-floor,  then  stood  the 
temple  which  the  obsequious  Herod  reared  to  Augustus.  Five  centuries 
later  a  magnificent  basilica  was  built  on  that  same  mountain  to  the  honor 
of  the  Traveler  who  then  saw  Herod’s  temple.  When  that  noble 
Christian  edifice  had  fallen,  the  Crusaders  of  the  twelfth  century  raised  on 
the  same  spot  another  church  bearing  the  name  of  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist,  who  was  thought,  as  early  as  the  fourth  century,  to  have  been  buried 
here.  That  Church  of  St.  John  is  also  now  a  ruin  with  its  apse  rising 
above  the  steep  brink  of  the  hill  of  Sebastiyeh.  Its  broken  walls  enclose 
a  court  in  the  midst  of  which  there  is  a  modern  dome  over  a  deep-sunk 
crypt  where,  beneath  a  stone  slab,  are  said  to  have  been  laid  the  bodies  of 
the  Baptist,  the  faithful  Obadiah  (i  Kings  xviii:3-i6),  and  the  prophet  Eli¬ 
sha.  On  the  north  of  the  church  are  the  ruins  of  another  great  building 
with  massive  square  towers,  probably  remains  of  the  palace  of  a  bishop 
during  the  Crusades,  or  of  a  commandery  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John. 
Except  perhaps,  the  pillars  of  the  colonnade  which  are  yet  standing,  no 
work  of  man’s  hand  that  is  now  seen  at  Sebastiyeh  could  be  seen  from 
the  road  when  Jesus  passed  Sebaste  on  His  way  through  Samaria  to 
Galilee. 

Beyond  Sebaste  He  went  through  a  country  which  was  then  extremely 
fertile  and  populous,  but  not  famous  in  history,  until  He  came  to  the  plain 


SAMARIA. 


477 


of  Dothan,  where  a  pit  is  still  shown  in  which  Joseph  is  said  to  have  been 
put  by  his  conspiring  brethren.  All  around  that  spot  the  flocks  and  herds 
of  Jacob  roamed  and  grazed,  and  over  the  same  road  which  we  are  tracing 
came  the  Midianitish  merchantmen  from  beyond  Jordan  bearing  their 
spicery  to  Egypt.  Now  “the  wild  gazelle”  finds  pasture  there.  Four  miles 
beyond  that  plain,  on  the  further  side  of  the  hills  which  swell  between  it 
and  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  was  En  Gannim.  Passing  through  the  city  of 
fresh  springs  and  fertile  gardens,  and  across  the  plain  of  many  battles, 
Jesus  and  His  little  company  would  soon  arrive  at  Nazareth,  and  thence 
the  way  was  short  to  little  Cana. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


Retrospective— Galilee— Origin  of  the  Name— Kabul— Fertility  of  the  Province— Its  Agricultural 
Products  and  Manufactures— Sepphoris,  the  Capital— The  Home  of  the  Virgin  Mary— Seat  of 
the  Sanhedrim — A  Christian  Bishopric — The  Castle  Beautiful  of  the  Crusaders — Remains  of  a 
Basilica — Jotopata — Its  Siege  and  Fall — Capture  of  Josephus  by  Vespasian — Accho,  the  Port  of 
Galilee — The  Bay  of  Acre— Haifa — Wrecks  along  the  Coast— The  Mouth  of  the  Kishon — The 
Belus — Fertility  of  the  Plain— History  of  Acre— Modern  Acre — The  Plain  Northward— The 
Ladder  of  Tyre — Its  Three  Promontories— Ras  el-Ain — The  Syro-Phoenician  Woman — Tyre — 
Origin  of  the  Name— Extent  of  the  Island  City — Palaetyrus — The  Sidonian  People — Tyre  Forti¬ 
fied  in  the  Time  of  Joshua — Solomon  and  King  Hiram — Alliance  with  Ahab — Immense  and 
Varied  Commerce— Besieged  by  Nebuchadnezzar — Decline — Partial  Independence  under  Egypt, 
Syria  and  Rome — Extent  in  the  Time  of  Pliny — Christianity  in  Tyre — Visit  of  St.  Paul — The 
Crusades — Tomb  of  Barbarossa — Desertion  of  Tyre — Complete  Desolation — Present  Condition — 
Tomb  of  Hiram — The  Litany — Zarephath — Sidon — The  Sidonian  Confederacy — Destruction  by 
the  Persians— Christianity  in  Sidon— St.  Paul — Mediaeval  History. — Modern  Saida. 


N  FOLLOWING  the  steps  of  our  Saviour 
to  this  early  part  of  His  ministry,  indeed 
only  to  its  opening,  we  have  already  gone 
over  most  of  the  Holy  Land. 

Landing  at  Joppa,  we  have  surveyed 
both  the  ancient  and  the  modern  road  to 
Jerusalem  and  the  famous  scenes  of  sacred 
history  near  which  they  pass.  We  have 
visited  Bethlehem.  We  have  traced  the 
flight  into  Egypt  by  Hebron  and  Beer- 
sheba,  and  the  return  through  the  Plain  of 
Philistia.  On  their  way  to  the  Passover  at 
Jerusalem,  we  have  journeyed  with  the 
Holy  Family  from  the  Jordan  to  Jericho 
and  Jerusalem.  We  have  sought  the  solitary  Wilderness  of  Judea  where 
the  Baptist  meditated  and  the  Saviour  overcame  the  tempter.  We  have 
at  last  taken  the  highway  which  leads  from  Jerusalem  to  the  border  of 
Samaria.  Thus  we  have  left  no  part  of  Jiidect  unnoticed  which  has  any 
direct  connection  with  the  Life  of  Christ. 

478 


SUPPOSED  TOMB  OF  KING  HIRAM. 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


4/9 


In  like  manner,  we  have  traced  one  part  of  the  journey  of  the  Holy 
Family  from  Egypt  through  the  maritime  Plain  of  Sharon,  and  in  the  last 
chapter  we  have  surveyed  the  only  remaining  part  of  the  province  ol 
Samaria  which  is  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 

In  following  the  probable  path  taken  to  Jerusalem  at  the  first  Pass- 
over  of  the  Child  Jesus  we  have  gone  down  the  Ghor  of  the  Jordan, 
noting,  as  we  went,  that  part  of  the  Holy  Land  which  lies  beyond  the 
sacred  river.  Thus  we  have  at  least  glanced  at  the  Province  of  Perea 
and  the  district  of  Decapolis. 

In  Galilee  we  have  viewed  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon;  we  have  visited 


RUINS  OF  THE  BASILICA  AT  SEFURIYEH. 


Nazareth,  and  Cana,  and  Capernaum;  and  in  going  round  the  Sea  of 
Tiberias  we  have  seen  not  only  its  Galilean  shore,  but  its  eastern  shore  in 
the  Province  of  Iturea. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  complete  our  survey  of  the  Beautiful  Land,  we 
have  yet  to  take  a  rapid  view  of  the  rest  of  Galilee  and  of  some  of  the 
places  which  our  Saviour  could  hardly  miss  when  He  went  into  “all  the 
cities  and  villages”  of  that  province.  Beyond  the  borders  of  the  Promised 
Land,  we  must  not  omit  to  see  “the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,”  and  “the 
towns  of  Caesarea  Philippi,”  into  which  He  went  at  the  very  close  of  his 
ministry.  Then,  after  ascending  the  “high  mountain”  of  His  transfigura¬ 
tion,  we  may  descend  as  He  did,  to  take  our  last  look  at  the  Beautiful 


480 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


Land  near  by  the  Holy  City  and  the  unknown  place  whence  He  was 
“taken  up.” 

The  name  of  Galilee  which  was  given  to  the  northern  province  of  the 
Holy  Land,  was  probably  applied  at  first  to  the  circle  (Heb.  galil )  of  the 
country  which  King  Solomon  gave  with  its  twenty  towns  to  Hiram,  King 
of  Tyre,  in  recognition  or  recompense  of  the  large  supplies  of  money  and 
material  which  the  Tyrian  monarch  furnished  for  the  building  of  the  Tem¬ 
ple.  When  he  came  to  see  them,  Hiram  was  by  no  means  gratified  at 
the  present  he  had  received,  and  asked  King  Solomon,  “What  cities  are 
these  which  thou  hast  given  me,  my  brother?  And  he  called  them  the 
land  of  Cabul  unto  this  day.”  The  name  was  one  of  contemptuous  disgust. 
One  of  the  towns  in  the  district  was  Cabul  (Josh,  xix:  27) ;  and  as  that  word 
in  the  Phenician  language  signifies  dirty  or  displeasing ,  the  disappointed 
monarch  gave  the  name  of  that  town  to  the  entire  district  which  had  been 
ceded  to  him.  Kabul  still  exists  under  the  same  name,  and  is  situated 
about  eight  or  nine  miles  east  of  Acre.  Naturally,  the  opprobrious  name 
bestowed  by  King  Hiram  would  not  be  used  by  the  Israelites  or  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  the  district,  who  would  prefer  to  call  it  Galil;  and  when  the  tribes 
of  Israel  were  carried  into  captivity,  and  the  Galileans  swarmed  into  the 
desolate  and  empty  land,  the  name  of  their  original  home  was  extended  to 
the  whole  of  Northern  Palestine.  By  way  of  further  distinction,  Northern 
Palestine  was  called  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  (Isa.  ix:  1;  Matt,  iv:  15),  and 
with  good  reason,  since  the  majority  of  the  Galileans  were  not  Israelites. 
In  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  it  seems  that  the  Israelites  in  Galilee  were 
few  and  feeble  in  comparison  with  the  Gentiles,  among  whom  they  lived 
(1  Macc.  v:  1,  2,  14,  15);  and  Strabo  describes  the  population  as  consisting 
in  his  time  of  Syrians,  Phenicians  and  Arabs.  It  is  certain,  however,  that 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  the  Israelites  largely  outnumbered  the  Gentiles  of  any 
single  race,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  had  many  proselytes  to  their 
religion  among  their  heathen  neighbors. 

Galilee  was  one  of  the  most  lovely  and  delightful  portions  of  Pales¬ 
tine.  Josephus  declares  that  it  was  densely  populated  by  a  hardy  and  war¬ 
like  people,  and  that  its  rich  and  fertile  soil  responded  so  readily  and 
generously  to  the  labor  of  the  husbandman,  as  to  attract  all  who  cared  to 
engage  in  agriculture.  Every  acre  not  under  tilth  or  pasturage,  was  ver- 


ANCIENT  BUILDINGS  IN  ST.  JEAN  D*ACRE. 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


483 


dant  with  the  foliage  of  trees.  The  cities  were  numerous,  and  the  least  of 
the  villages  had  a  population  of  15,000  souls.  A  considerable  subtraction 
might  be  made  from  what  Josephus  says,  and  yet  leave  Galilee  a  populous 
and  prosperous  country.  Its  hills  were  crowned  with  woods.  Its  upland 
slopes  were  the  rich  grazing  ground  of  cattle.  Its  valleys  teemed  with  all 
the  grains,  and  fruits,  and  flowers  that  a  prolific  soil  could  yield  under  the 
rays  of  a  Syrian  sun.  The  rabbis  never  wearied  of  extolling  Galilee.  For 
sixteen  miles  around  Sepphoris,  its  capital,  they  said  that  the  land  of 


REMAINS  OF  “CASTLE  BEAUTIFUL”  AT  SEFURIYEH. 


Galilee  literally  flowed  with  milk  and  honey,  and  they  maintained  that  its 
fruits  were  actually  sweeter  than  fruits  of  the  same  species  in  any  other 
place.  Tacitus  particularly  praised  the  palms  which  grew  in  the  most 
favored  districts.  Thus  Galilee  in  all  respects  fulfilled  the  promise  of 
Moses,  that  the  lot  of  Naphtali  should  be  “full  with  the  blessings  of 
Jehovah”  (Deut.  xxxiii:23);  and  even  in  our  own  day,  Renan  describes  it 
as  “a  country  clothed  with  verdure,  full  of  shade  and  pleasantness — the 
true  country  of  the  Canticles  and  of  the  Songs  of  the  Well-Beloved.” 


484 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


The  products  of  Galilee  were  largely,  but  by  no  means  exclusively, 
agricultural.  The  wheat  fields  brought  forth  some  thirty,  some  sixty  and 
some  an  hundred  fold.  Every  season  saw  the  presses  bursting  with  new 
wine.  The  product  of  the  olive  groves  was  so  abundant  that  when  Joto- 
pata  was  besieged  by  the  Romans,  the  citizens  were  able  to  defend  them¬ 
selves  by  pouring  streams  of  boiling  oil  on  their  assailants.  But  there 
were  many  other  remunerative  industries.  The  waters  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee 
teemed  with  fish  for  which  there  was  a  ready  market  even  so  far  south  as 
at  Jerusalem.  In  the  town  of  Magdala  there  are  said  to  have  been  no  less 
than  three  hundred  shops  for  the  sale  of  doves  from  the  rocks  and  woods 
around.  In  the  same  neighborhood  there  were  plantations  of  indigo,  and 
the  art  of  dyeing  was  practiced  extensively  and  profitably.  In  the  central 
district  there  were  manufactories  of  pottery;  and  the  weaving  of  linen  and 
woolen  cloths  was  one  of  the  chief  industries  of  the  whole  province.  In 
short,  Galilee  was  the  manufacturing  region  of  the  Holy  Land.  It  was 
also  a  commercial  region.  It  found  a  market  for  its  products  in  the  ports 
of  Akka,  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  along  its  highways  the  costly  stuffs,  the  jew¬ 
els,  the  spices  and  the  grain  from  the  lands  lying  to  the  eastward  of  Jordan 
were  carried  to  the  sea-board.  Such  was  the  province  into  which  our 
Saviour  went  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  in  which  He  spent  by  far  the 
longest  part  of  His  ministry.  His  was  no  religion  for  the  speculative  re¬ 
cluse;  nor  was  it  meant  to  be  a  pompous  ceremonial  religion.  It  was  pre¬ 
eminently  a  religion  of  life,  and  He  went  with  it  among  men  who  were 
fully  occupied  with  all  forms  of  human  activity. 

In  our  Saviour’s  time  the  capital  city  of  Galilee  was  Sepphoris ,  also 
called  Dioccesarea ,  the  modern  Sefuriyeh,  which  is  perhaps  identical  with 
the  more  ancient  Kitron  (Judg.  i:3o).  According  to  tradition,  Sepphoris 
was  the  home  of  Joachim  and  Anna,  the  parents  of  the  blessed  Virgin; 
and  it  was  at  Sepphoris,  we  are  told,  that  the  mother  of  Jesus  spent  her 
childhood  and  received  the  angelic  annunciation.  The  tradition  is  late  but 
not  by  any  means  incredible.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  our  Saviour  should 
not  have  visited  Sepphoris,  since  it  was  only  about  five  miles  from  Naza¬ 
reth.  As  it  is  plainly  in  sight  of  the  hill  which  rises  north  of  Nazareth,  He 
must  at  least  have  seen  it  hundreds  of  times,  and  whether  the  Cana  of  the 
Gospel  is  the  modern  Kefr  Kenna  or  Kanet  el-Jelil,  our  Lord  must  have 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON.  485 

been  very  near  to  the  walls  of  Sepphoris  every  time  he  went  to  the  place 
of  his  first  miracle. 

From  the  midst  of  a  plain  surrounded  with  hills  a  single  hill  rises  to 
a  height  of  several  hundred  feet,  and  on  its  southern  slope,  that  is  to  say 
on  the  side  toward  Nazareth,  is  the  crescent-shaped  town  of  Sefuriyeh. 
At  that  time  it  had  been  restored  and  adorned  by  Herod  Antipas  and  was 
the  greatest  city  of  Galilee,  outranking  Tiberias  itself.  It  had  no  natural 
supply  of  water,  the  nearest  spring  being  over  a  mile  distant  in  the  plain  to 
the  south,  but  the  remains  of  an  aqueduct  and  a  huge  reservoir  show  the 
immense  labor  and  expense  at  which  this  defect  was  remedied.  The  lines 


of  the  reservoir  have  been  traced  to  a  length  of  520  feet,  with  a  varying 
width  of  from  8  to  20  feet  and  a  depth  of  from  8  to  15  feet,  and  when  full 
it  must  have  held  more  than  1,000,000  cubic  feet  of  water.  After  the  de¬ 
struction  of  Jerusalem,  the  great  Sanhedrim  was  transferred  to  Sepphoris, 
which  thus  for  a  time  became  the  center  of  Jewish  nationality  and  religion. 
In  consequence  of  a  revolt  of  the  Jewish  inhabitants,  it  was  sacked  by  the 
Romans,  A.  D.  339.  Sepphoris  was  the  residence  of  the  Bishop  of  Pales- 
tina  Secunda,  and  in  the  sixth  century  a  basilica  was  erected  on  the  spot 
where  the  Virgin  is  said  to  have  received  the  angelic  salutation.  Still 
later  the  city  was  occupied  by  the  Crusaders,  and  many  a  gallant  Chris¬ 
tian  army  has  assembled  in  the  plain  below.  On  the  summit  of  the  hill 


486 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


they  built  the  fortress  which  they  proudly  called  “the  Castle  Beautiful,” 
and  around  that  hill  they  gathered  their  forces  for  the  fatal  battle  of  Kurn 
Hattin  in  which  the  Christians  were  completely  routed  by  Saladin.  The 
principal  apse,  and  the  apse  of  the  north  aisle  of  the  basilica,  remain  to 
mark  the  spot  where  Mary  dwelt,  and  the  ruins  of  the  castle  show  that  it 
was  strong  as  well  as  beautiful.  If  the  Crusaders  had  fought  there,  where 
they  would  have  had  an  undoubted  advantage  of  position,  Guy  de  Lusig- 
nan,  and  not  the  Saracen,  might  have  been  master  of  Palestine. 

The  history  of  the  fatal  battle  of  Hattin,  as  it  is  called,  is  admirably 
given  by  Dr.  Robinson.  With  considerable  abbreviation  the  story  runs 
as  follows: 

It  was  on  the  fifth  of  July,  1187,  that  the  last  decisive  battle  was 
fought  between  the  flower  of  the  Christian  chivalry  on  the  one  side,  with 
the  King  of  Jerusalem  at  their  head,  and  on  the  other  the  immense  power 
of  the  Mohammedans,  commanded  by  Saladin  in  person. 

The  usurpation  of  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  by  the  weak-minded  and 
irresolute  Guy  de  Lusignan,  had  embittered  Count  Raymond  of  Tripolis, 
and  many  other  Christian  barons;  and  Raymond,  who  was  now  lord  of 
Tiberias  and  Galilee,  had  entered  into  negotiations  with  Saladin,  and  had 
actually  received  aid  from  him.  Yet  a  general  truce  was  concluded  with 
the  Sultan,  and  the  Christians  were  enjoying  the  prospect  of  tranquility, 
when  suddenly  Raynald  of  Chatillon,  in  open  violation  of  the  truce, 
plundered  a  caravan  of  Moslem  merchants  passing  between  Arabia  and 
Damascus,  laid  his  prisoners  in  chains,  and  refused  to  release  them  on 
Saladin’s  demand.  The  enraged  Sultan  made  a  solemn  vow  of  vengeance, 
and  swore  that  he  would  yet  kill  Raynald  with  his  own  hand.  Hosts  of 
Moslem  warriors  were  quickly  summoned  from  Mesopotamia,  Egypt  and 
Arabia;  and  the  Christian  princes  were  compelled  to  lay  aside  their  per¬ 
sonal  strifes  to  meet  the  unexpected  danger. 

The  Christian  forces  came  together  from  all  sides  to  Sefuriyeh; 
Knights  Templar  and  Knights  Hospitaller,  Raymond  from  Tiberias, 
Raynald  from  Kerak,  barons  and  knights  from  Neapolis  (Nablous),  Cae¬ 
sarea,  Sidon  and  Antioch,  the  King  himself  from  Jerusalem,  the  bishops 
of  Ptolemais  and  Lydda  bringing  with  them  the  “True  Cross.”  The  army 
numbered  two  thousand  knights  with  their  esquires,  eight  thousand  heavy 


' 


.  . 


- 

I 


. 


_ 


.  . 

- 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON.  489 

armed  foot-soldiers,  and  a  large  body  of  light-armed  troops  and  archers. 
For  five  weeks  the  Christians  waited  at  the  fountain  of  Sefuriyeh; 
and  at  length  the  hosts  of  Saladin  broke  like  a  flood  upon  the  land. 
They  advanced  on  the  northern  end  of  the  lake  to  Tiberias.  Detach¬ 
ments  penetrated  to  the  neighborhood  of  Nazareth,  Jezreel  and  Mount 
Gilboa,  wasting  the  land  with  fire  and  sword  and  devastating  Mount 


THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT.  (MATT.  V.) 

Tabor.  Tiberias  was  attacked  and  the  town  fell,  the  wife  of  Count  Ray¬ 
mond  being  compelled  to  retire  into  the  citadel.  Saladin  encamped  on 
the  heights  north  of  Tiberias,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  the  Christians  on  to 
attack  him  in  that  position. 

On  the  third  day  of  July,  the  Christian  leaders  held  a  council  of  war. 
At  first  the  general  voice  was  in  favor  of  an  instant  march  against  Saladin, 
so  as  to  relieve  Tiberias  without  delay.  Count  Raymond,  however, 


490 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


though  he  might  have  been  expected  to  be  more  impatient  than  the  rest, 
urged  that  they  should  remain  at  Sefuriyeh,  where  they  had  water  and 
other  resources  in  abundance,  and  might  reasonably  hope  for  victory  if 
Saladin  should  make  the  attack.  If  they  abandoned  their  present  position, 
he  said,  and  marched  toward  Tiberias,  they  would  expose  themselves  to 
constant  assaults  from  the  Saracen  army  in  a  region  without  water,  where, 
exhausted  and  harrassed  on  every  side,  they  might  soon  find  that  their 
retreat  had  been  cut  off.  To  this  wise  advice  all  in  the  council  agreed, 
with  the  single  exception  of  the  rash  and  insolent  master  of  the  Templars. 

The  council  broke  up  at  midnight,  but  hardly  had  the  barons  laid 
them  down  to  rest  when  the  trumpets  sounded  and  heralds  went  through 
the  camp  giving  the  call  to  arms.  The  master  of  the  Templars,  after 
the  council,  had  sought  the  king’s  tent,  and  had  overwhelmed  him  with 
reproaches  for  listening  to  the  council  of  a  traitor  like  Raymond.  The 
fickle  king  had  yielded  to  the  Templar’s  urgency.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
barons  now  sought  to  expostulate;  he  refused  to  listen,  and  the  march 
toward  Tiberias  was  begun. 

This  movement  of  the  Christians  was  precisely  what  Saladin  desired; 
because,  if  he  could  only  draw  them  from  Sefuriyeh  and  bring  on  a  general 
battle,  he  had  every  reason  to  feel  confident  of  victory.  When  his  scouts 
reported  that  the  Christians  were  in  motion,  he  immediately  despatched 
light  troops  to  hang  upon  their  flanks  and  rear,  while  he  proceeded  to  dis¬ 
pose  his  main  army  on  the  high  ground  above  the  lake,  between  Tiberias 
and  Hattin.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth,  the  Christians  reached  the 
open  ground  around  the  village  of  el-Lubiyeh,  where  they  received  a 
violent  onslaught  of  the  Saracens.  They  were  exhausted  with  the  torrid 
heat  and  parched  with  thirst,  but  had  not  a  drop  of  water  to  relieve  them. 
Their  strength  began  to  fail.  They  found  themselves  scarcely  able  to 
repel  the  incessant  assaults  of  the  enemy.  Fear  and  dismay  began  to 
spread  through  their  ranks  and  omens  of  dire  import  began  to  be 
recognized.  Instead  of  pressing  on  to  the  main  body  of  Saladin,  or  at 
least  forcing  their  way  through  to  the  waters  of  the  lake,  the  weak-minded 
king  gave  orders  to  encamp  on  the  high  rocky  plain,  where  there  was  no 
water,  and  to  defer  the  final  conflict  to  the  following  day. 

The  night  was  dreadful  to  the  Christians,  tortured  with  thirst  and 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


491 


sleepless  in  the  momentary  expectation  of  a  night  attack.  To  add  to 
their  sufferings,  the  Saracens  approached  the  camp,  and  by  burning  up 
the  dry  shrubs  and  herbage,  overwhelmed  them  with  clouds  of  stifling 
smoke.  When  the  morning  of  the  5th  dawned,  they  found  themselves,  as 
might  have  been  ex¬ 
pected,  wholly  sur¬ 
rounded  by  the  Mos¬ 
lem  host.  Gallantly 
forming  in  solid 
phalanx,  they  ad¬ 
vanced  upon  the  foe, 
only  to  find  the  foe 
retire  before  them, 
while  their  flanks 
were  constantly  as¬ 
sailed.  The  stratagy 
of  Saladin  was  to 
fight  no  serious  bat¬ 
tle  with  them,  but  to 
wear  them  out  in  a 
succession  of  fruit¬ 
less  efforts.  Saladin 
succeeded.  Utterly 
hopeless  and  worn 
out,  the  foot  soldiers 
began  to  break  ranks, 
and  surrendered  at 
discretion.  The 
knights,  in  great  dis¬ 
order,  attempted  to 
withdraw  from  further  fight  and  encamp  around  the  Cross;  but  now  the 
Saracens  pressed  them  closely,  and  the  archers  poured  in  showers  of 
arrows.  King  Guy  gave  orders  to  renew  the  fight.  It  was  too  late. 
When  ordered  to  advance,  the  knights  of  Raymond  raised  the  coward  cry 
of  Sauve  qui  pent!  spurred  their  horses  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy 


PLAN  OF  ACRE. 


492 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE — TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


which  opened  before  them,  and  he  and  they  escaped  in  shameful  flight  in 
the  direction  of  Tyre. 

All  was  lost,  but  all  was  not  yet  over.  The  king  withdrew  to  the 
height  of  Hattin,  and  there,  from  the  spot  where  Christ  is  thought  to  have 
sat  teaching  the  multitude,  King  Guy  three  times  hurled  back  the  Moslem 
power,  before  the  standard  of  the  Cross  went  down  before  the  crescent. 

The  True  Cross  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
infidel.  The  small  remnant  of  the  Christ¬ 
ian  army  were  made  prisoners.  The 
perfidious  Raynald  was  slain  bySaladin's 
own  hand.  Two  hundred  Christian 
coin  of  acre.  knights  were  put  to  death.  The  king  and 

captive  princes  were  transferred  by  their  conqueror  to  Damascus. 

Thus  the  Christian  power  in  Palestine  was  broken.  The  Christian 
fortresses,  weakened  by  the  loss  of  their  garrisons  which  had  been  sent  to 
perish  at  Hattin,  were  easily  reduced.  The  Castle  of  Tiberias  surrendered 
on  the  day  after  the  battle,  and  on  the  next  day  Saladin  marched  to  the 
siege  of  Acre.  Before  the  end  of  September,  Askalon,  Joppa,  Caesarea, 
Acre  and  all  the  cities  of  the  northern  coast  except  Tyre,  were  in  his 
hands;  and  on  the  third  day  of  October,  Jerusalem  capitulated.  Saladin 
was  master  of  the  Holy  City. 

Six  miles  north  of  Sepphoris  was  Jotopata,  now  Tell  Jefat,  famous 
for  its  siege  by  Vespasian,  and  for  the  capture  of  the  Jewish  general  and 
historian,  Josephus.  It  is  a  lofty  round  hill  almost  surrounded  by  moun¬ 
tains  and  connected  by  a  low  spur  with  those  on  the  north.  The  top  of 
the  hill  is  flat  and  naked.  There  are  no  remains  of  fortifications,  the 
works  of  soft  lime-stone  having  entirely  crumbled  away.  On  the  north 
side  of  the  spur  are  the  remains  of  a  deserted  village.  The  account  of 
the  siege  of  Jotopata  given  by  Josephus  is  doubtless  an  exaggeration,  in¬ 
tended  at  once  to  glorify  himself  by  the  grandeur  of  his  downfall  and  to 
gratify  the  Romans  by  magnifying  the  difficulties  of  the  siege.  The 
approach  to  the  city  through  the  Wady  Jefat  must  indeed  have  been 
almost  impassable  to  a  great  army,  but  the  hill  of  Jefat  is  by  no  means  so 
impregnable  as  Josephus  represents  it.  He  says:  “Now  Jotopata  is  al¬ 
most  all  of  it  built  upon  a  precipice,  having  on  all  the  other  sides  of  it 


i 


* 


I 


. 


... 


v 

. 


* 


- 


-  .  '» 

- 

* 


. 


if 


t 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


495 


valleys  immensely  steep  and  deep,  insomuch  that  those  who  would  look 
down  would  have  their  sight  fail  them  before  it  could  reach  to  the  bottom. 
This  mountain  Josephus  had  encompassed  with  a  wall  when  he  fortified 
the  city.”  It  was  during  this  siege  that  the  Jews,  when  worn  out  with 
fighting  and  watching,  repulsed  the  Romans  by  pouring  down  upon  them 
floods  of  boiling  oil.  The  town  was  at  last  betrayed  by  a  deserter,  who 


SEA  WALL  OF  ST.  JEAN  D'ACRE. 

told  the  Romans  how  they  might  attack  it  successfully.  He  was  not  at 
first  believed,  as  treason  was  almost  unknown  among  the  Jews.  Prison¬ 
ers  chose  rather  to  die  under  torture  than  reveal  the  state  of  their  be¬ 
sieged  compatriots,  and  one  man  who  was  crucified  scornfully  smiled  at 
his  executioners  while  hanging  on  the  cross.  Vespasian,  however, 
thought  it  well  to  follow  the  indications  given  by  the  traitor,  and  Jotopata 
was  taken.  Josephus  and  others  took  refuge  in  a  cave,  and  Vespasian 
sent  an  officer  to  assure  him  of  his  life  if  he  would  surrender,  but  his  com- 


496 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


p anions  refused  to  allow  him  to  surrender,  notwithstanding  a  specious 
address  in  which  he  sought  to  induce  them  to  submit.  At  his  suggestion 
they  then  resolved  that  they  would  all  die  together,  and  drew  lots  with 
the  understanding  that  the  drawer  of  the  first  should  be  slain  by  the 
second,  and  he  by  the  third,  and  so  on.  All  perished  except  Josephus 
and  one  other  man  who  agreed  with  him  that  life  was  better  than  death. 
It  would  be  too  much  to  say  that  Josephus  contrived  to  manipulate  the 
lots  so  as  to  save  his  own  life  after  witnessing  the  death  of  his  com¬ 
panions;  but  his  sanctimonious  reasons  for  his  conduct  stamp  him  as  a 
hypocrite  who  might  easily  be  guilty  of  so  contemptible  a  fraud. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  our  Saviour  in  His  circuit 
through  “all  the  cities  and  villages”  of  Galilee,  ever  entered  the  only  sea¬ 
port  of  the  province,  which  was  then  called  Ptolemciis.  Its  more  ancient 
name  had  been  Accho ,  which  signifies  Hot  Sand.  Its  modern  names  are 
Akka ,  and  Saint  Jean  d' Acre.  Akka  is  situated  at  the  northern  headland 
of  the  beautiful  bay,  the  only  bay  on  all  the  coast  of  Palestine,  of  which 
Mount  Carmel  forms  the  southern  promontory.  Across  the  bay  from 
Akka  to  the  head  of  Carmel,  the  distance  is  about  six  miles.  Like  Joppa 
on  the  coast  of  Judea,  and  like  Caesarea  in  Samaria,  Ptolemais  was  an 
unsafe  port  for  shipping;  but  as  it  was  the  only  port  to  which  the  way  was 
open  from  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  from  the  plains  lying  north  of  the 
Nazareth  hills,  and  through  these  from  the  country  beyond  Jordan,  it  was 
a  place  of  much  importance;  and  being  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the 
sea,  with  a  narrow  neck  of  land  in  front,  it  was  singularly  well  adapted  for 
defence.  It  commands  the  entrances  to  Galilee,  and  round  the  sandy 
beach  which  lies  between  Carmel  and  the  sea  many  an  army  has  marched 
from  the  Plain  of  Acre  into  the  Plain  of  Sharon.  Acre  has  therefore  been 
properly  regarded  as  the  military  key  to  Palestine;  and  since  foreign  rice 
has  become  the  ordinary  food  of  the  inhabitants,  it  has  been  said  with 
some  truth  that  “the  lord  of  Acre  may,  if  he  will,  cause  a  famine  to  be 
felt  all  over  Syria.” 

At  the  very  foot  of  the  northern  side  of  Mount  Carmel,  and  within 
the  bay  (commonly  called  the  Bay  of  Acre)  is  the  little  port  of  Haifa. 
Steamers  call  at  it  when  the  weather  permits,  but  the  harbor  has  long 
been  choked  with  sand  and  also,  it  is  said,  by  mud  from  the  mouth  of  the 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON.  497 

Nile.  Thence  around  the  bay  to  Akka  there  is  a  broad  belt  of  sand 
between  the  sea  and  the  green  plain  beyond.  The  shore  is  strewn  with 
the  wrecks  of  ships  where  many  a  gallant  vessel  has  gone  to  pieces.  Two 
miles  north  from  Haifa  is  the  mouth  of  Kishon,  the  bed  of  which  is  at  one 
time  wholly  dry,  at  other  times  easily  fordable,  and  then  again  only  to  be 
crossed  by  swimming  the  horses.  The  Kishon  is  so  uncertain  a  stream, 
and  runs,  if  it  can  be  said  to  run,  through  so  treacherous  a  swamp,  that 


ST.  JEAN  D’ACRE. 

no  one  except  McGregor,  the  adventurous  navigator  of  the  Rob  Roy,  has 
ever  attempted  to  explore  its  course.  Even  he  was  compelled  to  abandon 
his  enterprise  when  a  large  crocodile  rose  under  his  famous  canoe  and 
nearly  upset  it.  Yet  further  on  toward  Akka  is  a  dark  and  sluggish 
stream  called  Nahr  cn  N'oman ',  the  ancient  Belus ,  where  “the  treasures 
hid  in  the  sand”  were  first  revealed  by  the  vitrification  which  suggested 
the  art  of  making  glass  (Deut.  xxxiii:  19).  Along  this  shore  there  were 
fisheries  of  the  purple  sea-snail  which  is  still  to  be  found,  and  from  which 


498 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE — TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


was  made  the  famous  Tyrian  purple.  The  soil  of  the  plain  is  naturally 
rich,  and  fully  justifies  the  prophetic  sayings  that  Asher  “dipped  his  foot 
in  oil,”  that  “his  bread  was  fat,”  and  that  “his  land  yielded  royal  dainties” 
(Gen.  xlix:2o;  Deut.  xxxiii:24). 

Though  this  fertile  country  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  Accho 
was  never  wrested  from  its  original’  inhabitants  (Judg.  i:  31)  and  was 
described  by  ancient  writers  as  a  city  of  Phoenicia.  It  is  never  men¬ 
tioned  m  the  Old  Testament  history  except  in  the  passage  just  cited,  and 
in  profane  history  it  is  not  mentioned  as  a  place  of  importance  until  after 
the  dismemberment  of  the  empire  of  Alexander.  In  the  division  of  the 
Empire,  it  was  given  with  the  rest  of  Phoenicia  to  Ptolemy  Lagus,  and 
received  the  name  of  Ptolemais ,  probably  in  honor  of  Ptolemy  Soter.  In 
the  wars  which  followed  between  Egypt  and  Syria,  Ptolemais  was  taken 
by  Antiochus  the  Great,  who  made  it  his  base  of  operations  against  the 
Maccabees  after  they  had  gained  possession  of  Judea.  Simon  Maccabeus 
drove  the  Syrians  back  to  Ptolemais,  but  did  not  take  the  city  (1  Macc. 
v:  22).  On  the  decay  of  the  Syrian  power,  Ptolemais  succeeded  in  estab¬ 
lishing  its  independence;  but  it  was  taken  by  Cleopatra  and  by  her  trans¬ 
ferred  with  her  daughter  Selene  to  the  Syrian  monarchy.  It  was  next 
besieged  and  taken  by  Tigranes,  but  fell  at  length  under  the  all  conquer¬ 
ing  power  of  Rome  and  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  Roman  colony  by 
the  Emperor  Claudius.  Many  Jews  must  have  resided  in  Ptolemais,  since 
two  thousand  of  them  were  put  to  death  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Jewish 
war.  The  church  was  early  planted  there,  and  St.  Luke  records  that,  on 
their  way  from  Tyre  to  Jerusalem,  he  and  St.  Paul  “came  to  Ptolemais, 
and  saluted  the  brethren,  and  abode  with  them  one  day”  (Acts  xxi:  7). 

The  mediaeval  and  modern  history  of  this  ancient  city  is  full  of  vicissi¬ 
tudes.  After  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  surrender  of  Caesarea,  it  was. 
taken  by  the  Arabs  in  A.  D.  638.  After  a  siege  begun  in  1103  it  was  taken 
by  Baldwin  in  1104.  For  more  than  eighty  years  it  flourished  under  the 
Crusaders,  until  it  was  taken  from  them  by  Saladin  in  1 187.  In  1189  King 
Guy  de  Lusignan  besieged  it  on  the  landward  side  with  an  army  of  10,000 
men,  while  a  Pisan  fleet  co-operated  with  him  by  sea;  but  for  two  years 
the  city  held  out.  On  the  15th  of  June,  1191,  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion 
joined  in  the  attack,  and  on  the  12th  of  July  Akka  fell.  It  contained  many 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON.  501 

Saracens  of  rank  whom  Richard  offered  to  put  to  ransom;  but  Saladin  not 
paying  the  ransom  agreed  upon,  the  English  conqueror  brutally  slaugh¬ 
tered  2,500  prisoners  in  a  field  outside  the  city. 

For  a  hundred  years  Akka  continued  to  be  the  center  of  Christian 
power  in  Palestine.  It  was  the  court  of  the  King,  and  the  seat  of  the 
Patriarch.  The  Knights  of  St.  John  established  their  headquarters  there, 
and  from  them  Akka  took  its  modern  name  of  Saint  jean  d’Acre.  The 


HAIFA. 

Teutonic  Knights  followed,  and  acquired  large  estates  in  the  vicinity.  A 
reign  of  luxury  and  confusion  followed,  such  as  probably  has  never  been 
seen  in  any  other  city  of  the  world.  There  was  a  nominal  sovereign,  but 
there  was  no  real  sovereignty.  The  motley  remnants  of  the  Christian 
powers  claimed  absolute  independence  of  each  other.  Within  the  narrow 
limits  of  which  Acre  was  the  chief  place,  Gibbon  says  “the  kings  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  Cyprus,  of  the  House  of  Lusignan;  the  Princes  of  Antioch;  the 
Counts  of  Tripoli  and  Sidon;  the  great  Masters  of  the  Temple,  the  Hos- 


502 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


pital  and  the  Teutonic  Orders;  the  Republics  of  Venice,  Genoa  and  Pisa, 
the  Pope’s  Legate;  the  kings  of  France  and  England,  assumed  an  inde¬ 
pendent  command.  Seventeen  tribunals  exercised  the  power  of  life  and 
death.”  The  end  of  this  confusion  came  when  the  Sultan  Ashraf  took 
and  utterly  destroyed  the  city,  which  was  never  rebuilt  until  within  about 
a  hundred  years. 

About  the  middle  of  last  century  a  certain  Sheikh  Zahir  el  Omar 
established  himself  in  Central  Palestine  and  made  his  residence  at  Akka, 
which  he  fortified,  and  which  under  him  became  prosperous.  Unhappily 
he  was  succeeded  by  Jezzar  Pasha,  whose  name  of  Jezzar  (the  Butcher) 
fitly  characterized  the  man.  In  1799  Akka  was  besieged  by  the  French, 
but  after  eight  desperate  assaults  they  failed  to  take  it,  and  Sir  Sidney 
Smith  rolled  back  the  tide  of  conquest  on  the  French  invader.  In  1804 
Jezzar  died,  to  the  great  relief  and  joy  of  his  subjects,  who  were  thence¬ 
forth  in  comparative  peace.  In  1831  Ibrahim  Pasha  invaded  Syria  from 
Egypt  and  besieged  Akka.  It  is  said  that  he  discharged  30,000  shells  into 
the  town,  but  could  not  take  it  until  he  called  in  the  assistance  of  an  Ital¬ 
ian  engineer.  In  1832  the  city  fell  and  was  mercilessly  plundered;  and 
scarcely  had  it  recovered  from  that  misfortune  when  it  was  again  bom¬ 
barded  by  the  fleets  of  England,  Austria  and  Turkey,  who  were  resolved  to 
drive  out  the  Egyptian  Pasha. 

After  these  many  devastations,  Akka  has  ceased  to  have  any  an¬ 
tiquities,  and  when  one  considers  all  that  it  has  passed  through,  the  old 
saying  seems  to  be  true,  “Happy  is  the  people  that  has  no  history  ! 
The  population  numbers  about  8,000  souls,  of  whom  three-fourths  are 
Mohammedans.  There  is  a  large  trade  in  the  export  of  grain  from  the 
country  beyond  Jordan,  from  two  to  three  hundred  ship-loads  being  ex¬ 
ported  every  year.  The  transport  over  land  is  by  camels,  and  long  trains 
of  these  patient  beasts  of  burden  are  constantly  passing  along  the  road 
north  of  Nazareth  and  near  to  Sefuriyeh.  In  the  time  of  our  Saviour, 
when  the  whole  country  was  at  its  highest  point  of  prosperous  activity, 
“the  multitude  of  camels”  and  “dromedaries  of  Midian”  thronged  that 
same  road  in  greater  numbers  than  now;  and  thus,  even  in  his  childhood 
at  Nazareth,  the  Saviour  must  often  have  beheld  the  commerce  of  the 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON.  503 

great  Roman  world  moving  past  the  quiet  and  secluded  village  where  He 
had  his  home. 

From  the  Ivishon  northward  the  plain  of  Acre  extends  about  twenty 
miles,  with  an  average  width  of  five,  and  ends  at  the  rugged  ridge  of  the 
Ladder  of  Tyre  which  juts  out  two  miles  into  the  sea.  The  ridge  is  eight 
miles  wide  and  has  three  distinct  promontories.  The  most  southerly  is 
called  Ras  el  Musheirifeh.  It  is  the  loftiest  and  boldest,  and  has  often 


MOUTH  OF  THE  KISHON.  HAIFA  ON  THE  RIGHT. 

been  erroneously  described  as  the  Ladder  of  Tyre.  1  he  second,  how¬ 
ever,  which  is  called  Ras  en  Nakurah ,  is  the  true  Scala  Tyriorum.  1  he 
third  is  Ras  el  Abyad,  which  does  not  jut  into  the  sea  more  than  about  a 
mile.  An  eloquent  traveler  says:  “The  route  from  Acre  to  Tyre  is  very 
wild  and  varied.  A  three  hours’  progress  over  the  fine  plain  of  Acre  ends 
at  the  foot  of  bold  cliffs  of  toilsome  ascent.  The  path  overhangs  the  sea, 
which  it  commands  beautifully,  yet  fearfully,  to  a  great  extent  both  behind 
and  in  front.  All  is  not  barren;  the  naked  masses  of  rock  are  often 


504 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


relieved  by  more  fertile  places  covered  with  lavender  and  rosemary,  with 
a  sprinkling  of  lofty  trees.  It  is  a  silent,  sublime  and  sea-beat  scene,  re¬ 
calling  vividly  many  parts  of  the  British  coast  where  the  Atlantic  rolls  its 
strength  against  the  granite  precipices;  so  like  in  feature,  in  sound,  in 
association,  that  at  times  one  can  scarcely  believe  this  to  be  part  of  the 
ruined  Land  of  Promise.  Thickets  of  myrtle  and  bay  at  intervals  border 
the  narrow  and  rugged  path  which  is  cut  through  the  calcareous  rock. 
In  one  part  the  track  is  really  perilous,  winding  on  the  side  of  vast  per¬ 
pendicular  precipices,  with  the  sea  dashing  far  below  and  the  horrible  path 
hanging  above.  There  the  traveler  will  do  well  to  dismount  if  he  wishes 
to  enjoy  the  wild  sublimity  of  the  scene,  and  to  listen  calmly  to  the  fierce 
music  of  the  waves  dashing  against  the  rocks.  On  the  most  southerly  of 
the  three  promontories  of  the  ridge  is  a  ruined  watch-tower  from  which 
the  ruins  of  Tyre  are  first  seen.  The  noon-day  light  beats  full  upon  its 
rocks,  its  peninsula  of  sand,  its  ruined  palaces,  and  its  modern  homes ;  but 
no  cry  of  the  mariner,  no  voices  from  the  once  crowded  mart  or  from  the 
chambers  of  departed  luxury,  come  over  the  waters. 

From  the  Ladder  of  Tyre  to  the  city  of  Tyre  the  road  lies  along  a 
narrow  plain  which  bears  the  same  name,  and  which  is  rarely  more  than 
two  miles  wide.  The  distance  in  a  straight  line  is  sixteen  miles,  but  the 
winding  of  the  shore  makes  the  road  something  over  twenty.  About 
three  miles  south  of  Tyre  is  an  ancient  reservoir  called  Ras  el  Ain ,  or  the 
Head  of  the  Spring ,  where  tradition  has  it  that  our  Saviour  was  met  by 
the  Syro-Phoenician  woman  (Mark  vii:  24-31)  whose  humility  in  asking 
only  for  crumbs  from  the  Master’s  table  brought  her  so  rich  a  reward. 
Somewhere  in  that  narrow  plain  they  must  have  met  on  the  only  occasion, 
certainly  known  to  us,  when  his  feet  had  trod  on  Gentile  soil  since  the 
return  from  Egypt.  Mediaeval  tradition  affirms  that  He  rested  on  a  great 
stone  near  Ras  el  Ain,  and  that  after  drinking  of  its  water,  which  Peter 
and  John  brought  Him,  He  blessed  the  beautiful  spot  from  whence  it 
came. 

Tyre  is  a  difficult  place  to  treat  briefly;  not  that  its  present  appear¬ 
ance  might  not  be  easily  portrayed  with  pen  or  pencil,  but  that  its  long 
and  eventful  history  is  so  full  of  historical  romance  that  to  condense  it  is 
almost  impossible. 


TURKISH  CEMETERY  AT  SIDON 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


507 


At  present  Tyre  stands  on  a  peninsula,  but  a  more  ancient  town 
existed  on  the  mainland,  while  the  future  site  of  the  great  Queen  City  of 
Syria  was  yet  two  rocky  and  barren  islands.  The  original  name  of  that 
ancient  town  has  perished.  In 
history  it  is  mentioned  only  as 
Palaetyrus  or  Old  Tyre;  and 
though  it  continued  to  be  in¬ 
habited  for  many  ages,  it  be¬ 
came  a  suburb  of  the  younger 
commercial  city  which  so  far 
excelled  it.  At  an  early  time 
the  two  islands  were  united 
by  filling  up  the  space  between 
them  with  stones,  and  the 
action  of  the  waves,  filling  the 
crevices  with  sand,  made  the 
two  islands  nearly  one.  The 
name  of  Tyre  in  Hebrew,  and 
probably  also  in  the  Phoenician 
language,  was  Tzor ,  from  which 
came  on  the  one  hand  Tyrus  or 
Tyre,  and  on  the  other  Sara  and 
the  modern  name  of  Sur. 

From  the  same  root  it  is  extremely  likely  that  the  whole  province  of  Syria 
took  its  name.  The  island  city  measured  only  1,200  yards  from  north  to 
south  and  800  from  east  to  west.  Its  entire  circuit  did  not  amount  to  three 

miles,  and  its  area  was  not  over  two  hun¬ 
dred  acres.  It  was  bordered  with  rugged 
rocks  rising  thirty  or  forty  feet  above  the 
sea,  which  the  inhabitants  cut  out  into 
docks  and  convenient  landing-places.  On 
coin  of  tyre.  the  northern  side  was  a  harbor  of  small 

extent,  not  having  much  over  twelve  acres  of  surface,  and  on  the  south 
there  appears  to  have  been  a  mole  which  formed  another  and  larger 
harbor.  But  the  Tyrian  works  have  never  been  accurately  traced.  Only 


I 


508  TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 

the  immense  size  of  the  blocks  of  granite  and  the  grand  columns — grand 
though  fallen — which  are  still  to  be  seen,  many  of  them  under  the  waves 
which  now  cover  them,  show  that  in  its  days  of  prosperity  the  ships  of 
Tyre  lacked  no  means  of  safety  that  art  or  industry  could  furnish. 

The  narrow  limits  of  Phoenicia  proper,  extending  only  from  Tyre  to 
Sidon,  twenty  miles  north,  and  thence  to  Berytus,  the  modern  Beyrout, 
were  in  ancient  times  inhabited  by  a  people  of  one  race  who  were  called 
Sidonians.  Virgil  calls  Tyre  itself  the  Sidonian  City,  and  a  much  earlier 
author  calls  the  inhabitants  of  Tyre  Sidonians  (1  Kings  v:  6).  From  these 
facts  it  may  perhaps  be  inferred  that  Sidon  was  at  first  the  chief  city  of 
Phoenicia  and  was  afterward  outstripped  by  its  more  enterprising  rival. 

In  the  time  of  Joshua  Tyre  was  a  “strong  city,”  that  is,  a  fortified 
place  (Josh,  xix:  29);  but  although  it  was  allotted  to  the  tribe  of  Asher,  it 
was  never  taken  into  possession.  There,  as  elsewhere,  the  children  of 
Israel  “dwelt  among  the  Canaanites,  for  they  did  not  drive  them  out” 
(Judg.  i:  31,  32);  but  they  continued  nevertheless  to  be  reckoned  as  belong¬ 
ing  to  Israel,  so  that,  when  David  made  his  census  of  all  his  subjects,  the 
Israelitish  inhabitants  of  Tyre  were  included  in  the  enumeration  (2  Sam. 
xxiv:7).  Between  Solomon  and  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  a  strong  friendship 
existed.  For  the  building  of  the  temple  Hiram  sent  cedar  trees  and  fir 
trees  in  rafts  from  Tyre  to  Joppa,  a  distance  of  seventy-four  geographical 
miles,  besides  making  other  valuable  contributions  to  the  sacred  work;  and 
Solomon,  in  return,  sent  grain  and  oil  to  Hiram  (1  Kings  v:  9;  2  Chron. 
ii:  16).  The  consequence  of  these  royal  exchanges  of  courtesy  was  a 
league  between  the  two  monarchs,  and  although  Hiram  was  not  greatly 
pleased  at  the  gift  of  the  district  or  circle  ( golil )  of  Cabul  which  Solomon 
gave  him  (1  Kings  ix:  10-15),  he  could  hardly  have  been  displeased  with 
the  trading  privileges  which  were  granted  to  him  in  certain  parts  of  the 
Red  Sea  (1  Kings  ix:  26-28).  In  the  story  of  the  intercourse  of  Hiram 
and  Solomon  we  have  some  insight  into  the  state  of  Tyre  at  that  time. 
Its  government  was  monarchical;  it  was  engaged  in  an  extensive  com¬ 
merce;  it  had  a  large  trade  in  the  timber  with  which  the  mountains  of 
Lebanon  were  covered;  but  above  all,  it  had  attained  to  such  skill  in  the 
working  of  metals  that  Hiram,  a  widow’s  son  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  3 

‘ 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


509 


workman  of  Tyre,  was  the  artificer  of  all  the  ornamental  metal-work  of 
the  temple  (1  Kings  vii:  13-45). 

After  the  division  of  Israel  into  two  kingdoms  the  northern  division 


continued  the  alliance  with  Phoenicia,  and  King  Ahab  married  the  bloody 
Jezebel,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Ethbaal,  King  of  the  Sidonians  (1  Kings 
xvi:  31):  but  when  the  ten  tribes  fell  into  misfortune,  their  former  friends 
were  perfectly  ready  to  purchase  their  effects  from  the  conquerors, 'and 


RUINS  OF  THE  CATHEDRAL  OF  TYRE,  THE  BURIAL  PLACE  OF  FREDERICK  BARBAROSSA. 


even  to  make  merchandise  of  the  Israelitish  captives  whom  they  sold  in 
Grecian  ports  (Joel  iii:  4-8;  Amos  ix:  10).  Tyre  was  then  enjoying  a  period 
of  marvellous  prosperity.  She  had  founded  the  city  of  Carthage  which  at 
one  time  had  more  than  an  even  chance  to  become  the  mistress  of  the  world. 
She  had  gained  possession  of  the  island  of  Cyprus.  She  had  engaged  the 
services  of  an  army  of  faithful  mercenaries  (Ezek.  xxvii:  10,  11)  who 
defended  her  against  all  comers.  She  traded  with  Arabia  for  gold  from 
the  further  east;  from  Spain  she  brought  silver,  lead,  tin  and  iron;  from 
Cyprus,  and  perhaps  also  from  the  Caucasus,  she  received  consignments 
of  copper;  Palestine  sent  her  an  abundant  supply  of  wheat,  oil,  honey  and 


5io 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


balm,  her  wine  came  from  Damascus;  caravans  from  the  Persian  Gulf 
brought  her  the  precious  ivory  of  India;  her  famous  purple  dye-stuffs  were 
found  on  her  own  coast  and  came  also  from  Peloponnesus ,  and  every 
known  sea  was  whitened  with  Syrian  sails  made  of  cloth  woven  in  Egypt. 
The  narrow  boundaries  of  her  city  could  not  contain  the  population 
required  for  her  trade  and  manufacturers,  and  she  built  houses  of  many 
stories  in  height — a  style  of  architecture  which  commanded  the  admiration 
and  the  envy  of  her  neighbors.  So  self-confident  was  she  that  when 
Nebuchadnezzar  advanced  against  Jerusalem,  she  was  not  alarmed  at  the 
advance  of  that  powerful  monarch,  but  rather  rejoiced  in  the  approaching 
downfall  of  a  city  which,  under  King  Josiah,  had  within  a  few  years  done 
despite  to  the  gods  which  were  adored  in  Tyre.  When  she  was  herself 
attacked  and  besieged  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  she  held  out  stoutly  for  thir¬ 
teen  years,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  she  submitted  at  last,  or  entered 
into  an  alliance  with  him.  But  that  long  war  weakened  her,  and  for  a 
time  she  fell  behind  Sidon  in  commercial  and  political  importance.  She 
fell  first  under  the  yoke  of  Egypt  and  then  of  Persia;  but  she  still  main¬ 
tained  a  certain  independence,  and  when  Cambyses  would  have  had  her 
attack  Carthage,  she  boldly  refused  to  make  war  on  the  city  she  herself 
had  founded.  Tier  dark  day  came  when  she  was  summoned  to  surrender 
by  Alexander  the  Great.  She  clung  to  her  Persian  connection,  and  the 
conqueror  attacked  her.  Secure  in  her  island  defences,  she  defied  the 
Macedonian;  but  Alexander  constructed  a  road  between  the  city  and  the 
mainland  which  the  sand  has  now  made  half  a  mile  in  width.  Attacked 
from  the  land  side,  Tyre  fell,  and  the  conqueror  took  bloody  vengeance  of 
his  gallant  enemies,  putting  many  thousands  of  them  to  the  sword  and 
selling  30,000  captives  into  slavery. 

Gradually  Tyre  recovered  from  this  fearful  blow.  First  under  the 
Syrians  and  then  under  the  Romans,  she  was  permitted  to  enjoy  a  reason¬ 
able  measure  of  freedom.  Under  Augustus  she  again  became  wealthy; 
her  trade  revived,  her  people  were  prosperous.  Her  dye-works  alone  were 
so  considerable  an  industry  that  Strabo  says  they  made  the  city  an 
unpleasant  place  of  residence;  he  adds  that  the  houses  were  loftier  and  had 
more  stories  than  the  houses  at  Rome.  Pliny  says  that  the  whole  city, 
including  the  peninsula  and  Palaetyrus  on  the  mainland,  was  nineteen 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON 


tains  no  record.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  Greek  language  was  used 
in  Nazareth,  but  it  was  spoken  at  Tyre,  and  it  was  undoubtedly  the  lan¬ 
guage  used  in  His  conversation  with  the  Greek  woman  whom  He  met  within 
the  Tyrian  border  (Mark  vii:  24-31).  Where  our  Saviour  learned  to  speak 
Greek  we  do  not  know,  but  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  He  may  have 
acquired  it  in  the  course  of  frequent  visits  to  Tyre. 

Christianity  was  early  planted  at  Tyre.  On  his  journey  from  Mace¬ 
donia  to  Caesarea,  the  ship  in  which  St.  Paul  sailed  called  there  to  change 
cargo,  and  the  Apostle  found  brethren  in  the  city  with  whom  he  spent 


Roman  miles  in  circumference.  There  is  little  doubt  that  its  resident 
population  was  .greater  than  that  of  Jerusalem;  and  if  it  was  so,  it  was 
undoubtedly  the  largest  city  our  Saviour  ever  visited.  That  He  did  visit 
it  is  all  but  certain,  since  in  passing  to  “the  coasts”  of  Sidon,  He  would 
almost  certainly  pass  through  Tyre.  Besides,  Nazareth  was  only  thirty 
miles  from  Tyre,  and  we  may  easily  conceive  that  He  went  there  fre¬ 
quently  during  the  nearly  thirty  years  of  His  life  of  which  the  Gospel  con- 


ZARAPHA,  THE  ANCIENT  ZAREPHATH  OR  SAREPTA. 


512 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


seven  days  (Acts  xxi:  3-7).  The  Christian  community  grew  rapidly.  A 
Bishop  of  Tyre  is  recorded  to  have  been  present  at  a  Church  Council  as 
early  as  the  close  of  the  second  century.  For  ages  this  fortunate  city  con¬ 
tinued  to  flourish  without  a  break  in  her  prosperity,  while  nearly  every 
other  city  of  the  East  was  ravaged  again  and  again;  but  her  course  was 
checked  when  she  was  taken  by  the  Moslems  in  the  seventh  century  and 
was  subjected  to  degrading  regulations.  She  was  again  flourishing  as  the 
greatest  commercial  city  of  Syria,  when  she  was  taken  by  the  Crusaders  on 
the  27th  of  June,  1124.  In  the  following  year  the  celebrated  William  of 
Tyre  became  Archbishop.  Under  the  Crusaders  Tyre  became  famous  for 
its  manufacture  of  glass.  In  1190  the  body  of  the  German  Emperor, 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  was  buried  there.  Early  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
the  inhabitants,  seeing  that  it  was  impossible  longer  to  hold  out  against  the 
Saracens,  abandoned  the  city  by  night,  making  their  escape  on  the  sea 
side,  so  that,  when  the  enemy  entered,  it  was  to  find  nothing  but  an  empty 
town.  Tyre  soon  fell  into  complete  decay.  In  the  seventeenth  century  it 
had  become  a  mere  heap  of  ruins  occupied  by  a  few  wretched  fishermen; 
in  1751  it  had  only  ten  inhabitants.  During  the  present  century  it  has 
somewhat  revived,  but  Beyrout  has  secured  the  trade  which  might  again 
have  made  it  an  important  commercial  city.  It  has  now  a  population  of 
about  5,000,  of  whom  one-half  are  Mohammedans  and  the  rest  are  Chris¬ 
tians  and  Jews.  The  streets  are  miserable.  The  houses  are  dilapidated. 
Few  antiquities  are  to  be  found.  Even  the  hewn  stones  of  the  former 
dwellings  and  harbors  have  been  taken  away,  and  are  still  in  course  of 
removal,  to  be  used  at  Acre  and  Beyrout. 

On  the  peninsular  part  of  Tyre  the  most  interesting  object  is  the  Cru¬ 
sader’s  Church  of  St.  Mark  which  was  built  by  the  Venetians.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  founded  in  1125  and  completed  early  in  the  thirteenth  cen¬ 
tury.  Possibly  it  occupies  the  same  site  as  an  earlier  basilica  which  was 
consecrated  by  Eusebius  in  323.  It  was  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  that 
the  body  of  Barbarossa  was  deposited,  but  German  explorers  have  failed 
to  discover  the  exact  spot  of  his  sepulchre. 

The  central  part  of  the  ancient  Palaetyrus  on  the  mainland  is  marked 
by  a  hill  or  mound  called  Tell  Mcl  shuk,  where  the  Mohammedan  sanctuary 
called  Wely  Met  shuk  is  perhaps  a  survival  of  a  Tyrian  temple.  Ma  shuk 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


5i3 


(Beloved)  was  perhaps  Astarte,  the  Beloved  of  Hercules,  who  brought  her 
the  treasures  of  the  ocean.  The  slopes  of  the  hill  are  covered  with  ruins, 
and  many  sarcophagi  have  been  found  there.  Behind  the  Tell,  on  the 
east,  is  a  necropolis.  Two  or  three  miles  to  the  eastward  of  Ras 
el  Ain  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  striking  monuments  in  all 
Syria.  It  is  called 
Kabr  Hair  an,  the 
Tomb  of  Hiram. 

It  is  undoubtedly 
a  Phoenician  work 
of  great  antiquity, 
and  it  may  very  pos¬ 
sibly  be  the  tomb 
of  King  Hiram. 

The  pedestal  con¬ 
sists  of  huge  stones 
in  two  tiers,  above 
which  is  a  still 
thicker  slab  of  rock 
overhanging  the 
rest  of  the  pedestal 
on  all  sides.  On  the 
slab  rests  a  massive 
sarcophagus  of  ir¬ 
regular  pyramidal 
form  covered  with 
a  stone  lid.  Exca¬ 
vations  made  by 
Renan  show  that 
there  is  a  rock  cham¬ 
ber  under  the  tomb  with  a  stairway  from  the  north  end  of  the  monument. 

The  road  from  Tyre  to  Sidon  runs  along  the  narrow  plain  by  the  sea, 
through  a  country  full  of  interest  from  the  many  antiquities  which  are 
everywhere  to  be  found.  To  none  of  them,  however,  can  we  give  attention 
here.  We  can  pause  only  to  notice  the  River  Litany ,  which  has  its  chief 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON 


514 

source  near  Baalbek,  far  to  the  north  of  Mount  Hermon,  and  rushes 
between  the  mighty  mountain  ranges  of  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon, 
through  the  wildest  gorges  in  Palestine,  to  lose  itself  in  the  Mediterranean, 
a  few  miles  north  of  Tyre. 


Midway  between  Tyre  and  Sidon  is  a  town  at  which  we  must  pause 
for  a  moment,  since  it  was  to  that  town,  and  along  this  same  road  by  the 
sea,  that  the  “Lord  of  Hair,”  the  grim  yet  gentle  prophet  Elijah,  went. 


SIDON  ON  THE  APPROACH  FROM  BEYROUT. 


when  the  sky  was  like  brass,  and  the  whole  earth  was  parched  under  a 
three  years’  drought.  In  this  little  town  upon  a  hillside  by  the  sea,  was 
she  who  was  to  minister  to  the  prophet  at  that  time.  There  were  many 
widows  in  Israel,  but  to  none  of  them  was  Elijah  sent  (Luke  iv:  2.5).  He 
was  sent  to  the  poor  widow  of  Zarephath ,  afterward  called  Scirepta ,  and 
now  Sarfend ,  whom  he  found  gathering  two  sticks  to  cook  the  only 
handful  of  meal  that  remained  in  the  barrel,  and  the  little  oil  that 
remained  in  the  cruse,  that  she  and  her  son  might  eat  it  before  they  died. 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON.  515 

But,  after  she  had  given  that  last  morsel  of  food  to  the  hungering  prophet, 
the  barrel  of  meal  did  not  waste,  neither  did  the  cruse  of  oil  fail,  until  the 
day  that  the  Lord  sent  rain  upon  the  earth  (1  Kings  xvii:  8-24). 

As  we  go  northward  toward  Sidon  we  are  reminded  of  the  words  with 
which  the  historian  Gibbon  closes  his  chapter  on  the  Crusades:  “A  mourn¬ 
ful  and  solitary  silence  now  prevails  along  the  shore  which  once  resounded 
with  the  world’s  debate.”  From  early  times  until  the  close  of  the  Crusad¬ 
ing  adventures  to  win  the  Holy  Land,  Phoenicia  has  indeed  “resounded 
with  the  world’s  debate.”  Now  all  is  still.  Since  Gibbon  wrote,  these 


CASTLE  OF  ST.  LOUIS  AT  SIDON. 

shores  have  heard  the  roar  of  cannon;  but  now  again  there  is  stillness 
almost  of  death.  But  there  will  yet  be  a  resurrection,  and  these  solitary 
places  may  hereafter  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Sidon,  now  called  Saida ,  shows  decided  signs  of  revival,  but  it  is  far 
indeed  from  the  glory  which  it  once  had.  In  Bible  history  it  does  not 
possess  the  interest  of  Tyre,  and  its  story  may  be  more  easily  condensed. 
In  Gen.  x:  15,  Sidon  is  called  the  first-born  son  of  Canaan.  His  descend¬ 
ants  had  their  original  abode  near  the  Persian  Gulf.  Their  territories  in 
Phoenicia  were  not  always  confined  to  the  narrow  strip  of  sea-coast,  but 
extended  far  inland.  Their  history,  as  related  by  themselves,  was  a  mere 
tissue  of  mythological  conceits.  Their  settlements  formed  themselves  into 
states  under  a  kind  of  aristocracy,  and  were  joined  in  a  confederacy  of 


5 16 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


which  it  is  probable  than  Sidon  was  chief  and  therefore  gave  the  general 
name  of  Sidonians  to  the  people  over  whom  it  had  some  pre-eminence. 
Soon,  however,  Tyre  outstripped  the  mother  city  and  assumed  a  leading 
position  which  Sidon  never  regained.  In  the  book  of  Joshua,  Sidon  is 
dignified  as  “the  Great”  (xix:  28);  and,  although  the  great  city  fell  behind 
her  sister,  and  seems  to  have  acknowledged  some  sort  of  dependence  upon 
her  (1  Kings  v:  6;  Ezek.  xxvii:8),  yet  she  retained  her  own  autonomy 
under  her  own  kings  (1  Kings  xvi:  31 ;  Jer.  xxv:  22).  The  Sidonians  were 
eminent  in  the  learning  of  that  age,  that  is,  in  astronomy  and  arithmetic, 
as  Tyre  was  in  manufuctures.  In  commerce  they  both  excelled.  In 
general  the  ccfurse  of  the  history  of  Sidon  runs  parallel  with  that  of  Tyre, 
except  that  under  the  Persian  rule,  Sidon  was  almost  utterly  destroyed  in 
consequence  of  a  revolt,  B.  C.  351.  Forty  thousand  persons  are  said  to 
have  been  massacred  at  that  time,  and  thereafter  the  city  was  compara¬ 
tively  insignificant.  It  was  still,  however,  treated  with  a  certain  considera- 
ion,  and  in  the  Roman  period  it  was  governed  by  its  own  senate  and 
municipal  officers.  Its  most  famous  manufacure  was  that  of  glass. 

Christianity  was  introduced  into  Sidon  at  an  early  date.  On  his 
journey  to  Rome  Paul  was  permitted  to  visit  his  friends  there  (Acts 
xxvii:3).  At  the  council  of  Nicsea,  A.  D.  325,  a  Bishop  of  Sidon  was 
present.  On  the  invasion  of  Syria  by  the  Mohammedans,  Sidon  sub¬ 
mitted  to  the  followers  of  the  Prophet  without  a  blow;  but  its  submis¬ 
sion  did  not  save  it  from  fearful  vicissitudes  during  “the  world’s  debate” 
which  followed.  After  a  siege  of  six  weeks,  it  was  taken  by  Baldwin  in 
mi.  In  1187,  after  the  battle  of  Kurn  Hattin,  Saladin  razed  it  to  the 
ground.  Ten  years  later  it  was  re-occupied  by  the  Crusaders,  but  they 
were  driven  out  in  the  same  year,  and  what  remained  of  the  town  was 
again  destroyed.  In  1228  it  was  rebuilt  by  the  Christians  and  strongly 
fortified,  but  in  the  year  1249  it  was  once  more  razed.  Refortified  by 
Louis  IX,  in  1253,  it  was  purchased  by  the  Templars;  but  again,  within 
seven  years,  it  was  devastated  by  the  Mongols.  Passing  finally  under  the 
Moslem  power,  it  was  cruelly  devastated,  and  for  centuries  it  seemed  to 
have  been  extinguished.  In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
however,  it  was  made  the  residence  of  the  Druse  Emir  ed-D'in,  under 
whom  it  flourished  and  became  noted  for  its  silk  trade.  After  the  fall  of 


/ 


TOWNS  OF  GALILEE— TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


5i7 

the  Emir,  the  prosperity  of  Sidon  continued  until  its  commerce  was  anni¬ 
hilated  by  Jezzar  Pasha.  Under  the  government  of  Ibrahim  Pasha  it 
once  more  revived,  and  the  town  was  fortified,  but  in  1840,  the  allied  fleet 
dismantled  the  fortifications.  In  i860,  the  Christian  population  was  fear¬ 
fully  persecuted  at  the  instigation  of  the  Turkish  governor,  and  nearly 
2,000  Christians  are  said  to  have  been  brutally  massacred.  Since  then 
Saida  has  had  rest. 

Saida  is  beautifully  situated  on  a  promontory,  in  front  of  which  is  an 
island.  Beyond  the  plain  and  the  foot-hills  on  the  east  rise  the  snowy 
crests  of  Lebanon.  In  the  environs  are  orchards  full  of  bananas  and 
palm-trees.  The  anchorage  is  not  good.  All  around  the  island  are  re¬ 
mains  of  quays  built  of  large  hewn  stones;  but  since  Fakhr  ed-Din  closed 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor  to  exclude  the  Turkish  fleet,  the  hewn  stones  of 
the  quays  have  been  removed  to  be  used  elsewhere,  and  now,  in  stormy 
weather,  the  sea  washes  over  the  rocks  into  the  harbor.  The  population 
is  about  10,000  souls,  of  whom  8,000  are  Mohammedans;  the  rest  are  Jews, 
Christians  and  Maronites.  In  the  necropolis  are  many  curious  tombs, 
some  of  which  are  of  high  antiquity.  But  of  “Sidon  the  Great,”  of  the 
Sidon  which  Assyrian,  Macedonian,  Egyptian,  Roman,  Arabian,  Frankish, 
Saracen  and  Turkish  armies  entered  and  plundered,  each  after  the  other, 
nothing  remains.  Sidon  is  a  city  of  the  past.  Saida  is  a  modern  Syrian 
trading  town. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


The  Cities  of  Decapolis — Ephphatha — Rejection  of  Jesus  in  Galilee — Routes  to  Caesarea — Directly  from 
Bethsaida  Julias — From  Capernaum,  Crossing  the  Jordan  at  Jisr  Benat  Yakub — Probable  Route 
on  West  Side  of  Jordan — Description  of  the  Country — Lake  Huleh — Fauna  and  Flora — Papyrus — 
Huleh  Lily — Tell  Khureibeh — Edrei  or  Hazor — Tell  Harah,  Harosheth — Battle  of  Joshua — 
Ivedesh — Hunin,  Chateau  Neuf,  Beth-rehob — Abel — Ijon — Tell  el-Kady,  Laish,  Dan — Beauty 
and  Fertility  of  the  District — Sources  of  the  Jordan — Capture  of  Laish  by  Danites — A  Sanctuary 
of  Idolatry — From  Dan  to  Beersheba — Mount  Hermon — Its  Many  Names — Beyond  the  Holy 
Land,  but  Visible  From  Most  Parts  of  it — An  Ancient  Sanctuary  of  Baal — Worship  of  Pan — 
The  Holy  Mount — Fauna  and  Flora  of  Hermon — View  from  its  Summit — Temple  of,  Baal — 
Paneas,  Caesarea  Philippi,  Banias — Situation — Dean  Stanley’s  Description — Fortress  of  Subeibeh 
— Thou  art  Peter — The  Transfiguration. 


BRIDGE  OF  JACOB  S  DAUGHTER. 


WHEN  our  Saviour  departed  from  the 
'coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  on  His 
return  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  His 
most  direct  route  would  be  almost 
in  a  straight  line  to  the  southeast 
through  Giscala  and  Safed  to  Caper¬ 
naum.  He  did  not  tarry  there, 
however,  but  went  at  once  among 
the  cities  of  Decapolis  Those  ten 
famous  cities  were  Gentile  colonies 
enjoying  under  the  Romans  many 
special  privileges  and  immunities  which  had  made  them  wealthy  and  pros¬ 
perous.  Few  of  them  had  ever  been  cities  of  Israel  ,  and  the  Israelites  on 
their  return  from  captivity  had  never  been  able  to  re-occupy  even  those 
which  had  been  theirs.  Their  very  names  had  been  changed.  Bethshean, 
for  example,  had  come  to  be  called  Scythopolis,  or  the  Scythian  City, 
from  the  colonists  who  had  been  settled  there  under  the  Graeco-Syrian 
monarchy.  It  is  remarkable  that  of  all  the  great  cities  of  Decapolis,  not 
one,  unless  we  except  Damascus,  which  was  not  certainly  one  of  them,  is 
now  of  any  importance.  Seven  are  entirely  desolate  and  uninhabited;  only 

three  have  a  few  wretched  people,  living  at  Scythopolis  and  Canatha  in 

518 


JEBEL.  SHEIKH  —  MOUNT  HERMON 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPE  521 

huts  and  caves,  and  at  Gadara  in  the  ancient  tombs.  It  was  to  these  Gen¬ 
tile  or  semi-Gentile  communities  that  Jesus  paid  a  brief  visit  after  leaving 
Tyre  and  Sidon  (Mark  vii:  31).  He  was  not  unknown  in  that  region,  for 
the  fame  of  His  wonderful  works  had  already  gone  abroad  there  (Mark 
v.20),  and  He  had  hardly  made  His  appearance  in  the  district  before  a 
man  was  brought  to  Him  who  was  wholly  deaf  and  had  also  an  impedi¬ 
ment  in  his  speech.  In  connection  with  the  healing  of  this  man  St.  Mark 
has  recorded  one  of  the  very  words  and  one  of  the  few  significant  gestures 
of  our  Saviour;  for  it  was  then  that  He  lifted  his  eyes  to  heaven  and  sighed 


MOUTH  OF  THE  JORDAN,  LAKE  HULEH. 

as  He  spoke  the  commanding  word,  “ Ephphatha !” — Be  opened! — at  which 
the  sufferer’s  “ears  were  opened,  and  the  string  of  his  tongue  was  loosed, 
and  he  spake  plain”(Mark  vii;  32-35).  It  was  in  vain  that  Jesus  charged 
the  people  not  to  publish  what  He  had  done;  “the  more  He  charged  them, 
so  much  the  more  they  published  it.”  Thousands  pressed  around  Him 
and  followed  His  steps  into  the  rural  places  which  He  preferred  to  crowded 
cities.  Even  into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  of  them  followed  Him,  and 
it  was  there  that  He  fed  them  all,  when  they  were  faint  and  famishing, 
with  seven  loaves  and  a  few  small  fishes  (Matt,  xv:  32-38;  Mark  viii:  1-8). 


522 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


Again  our  Lord  returned  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  but  only  to  encoun¬ 
ter  the  opposition  of  His  enemies  while  He  went  about  doing  good 
(Mark  viii:  10-26).  “He  came  unto  His  own  and  His  own  received  Him 
not;”  but  He  had  “other  sheep”  which  were  not  of  that  fold.  In  the  days 
to  come  He  was  yet  to  bring  those  other  sheep  into  the  flock  which  His 
own  refused  to  enter;  and  at  this  time  He  seems  to  have  looked  with  great 
longing  to  the  multitude  of  those  unfolded  sheep.  He  had  gone  into  the 
coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon;  He  had  visited  the  cities  of  Decapolis,  and  now 
He  went  once  more  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Israel  to  visit  the  towns  of 
Caesarea  Philippi  (Matt,  xvi:  13). 

In  going  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee  our  Lord  and  His  disciples  had  a 
choice  of  routes.  Leaving  Bethsaida-Julias  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan, 
they  could  travel  nearly  in  a  straight  line  northward  to  Caesarea,  passing 
through  many  towns,  the  sites  of  which  are  still  marked  by  tells  or  ruins 
all  along  that  road.  If  they  started  from  Capernaum,  they  might  go 
along  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  for  nearly  ten  miles,  and  then  cross  to 
the  eastern  side  over  a  bridge  or  through  a  ford  of  the  river  a  little  to  the 
south  of  Lake  Huleh.  At  the  present  day  the  crossing  is  by  a  bridge 
called  the  Jisr  Benat  Yakub ,  or  the  bridge  of  Jacob’s  Daughters.  It  is 
not  an  ancient  structure,  though  it  is  strongly  built  of  basaltic  rock,  and  it 
was  last  repaired  by  Jezzar  Pasha,  the  cruel  ruler  of  Acre.  It  is  quite 
certain  that  Jacob  and  his  family  crossed  into  Canaan  at  a  point  of  the 
river  far  to  the  south  of  the  Jisr  Benat  Yakub.  Through  this  place,  how¬ 
ever,  has  always  been  the  caravan  route  from  Damascus  and  the  Hauran 
to  Egypt  and  all  parts  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  it  was  undoubtedly  by  this 
route  that  Saul  of  Tarsus  went  breathing  threatenings  and  slaughter 
against  the  followers  of  Christ  at  Damascus.  The  Jisr  Benat  Yakub  is  a 
point  of  military  importance.  During  the  Crusades  it  was  occupied  and 
lost  by  Baldwin  III.  Baldwin  IV  recovered  and  strengthened  it  by  build¬ 
ing  a  castle  which  he  committed  to  the  Knights  Templar  in  1178,  only  to 
be  destroyed  by  Saladin  in  the  following  year.  Its  ruins  remain  at  some 
distance  from  the  bridge.  In  1799  this  was  the  extreme  point  of  the 
French  invasion  of  Syria,  and  in  turning  their  backs  upon  the  Jisr  Benat 
Yakub  the  French  abandoned  the  dream  of  oriental  conquest  with  which 
the  ambition  of  Napoleon  had  inspired  them.  The  Jordan  here  is  87  feet 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


523 


above  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  rushes  rapidly  toward  the  Sea 
of  Galilee  in  a  channel  which  is  eighty  feet  wide,  full  of  fish,  and  fringed 
on  both  sides  with  oleanders,  zakkum,  papyrus  and  gigantic  reeds. 

The  most  probable,  or  certainly  at  least  the  most  interesting,  route 
from  Capernaum  to  Caesarea  would  be  altogether  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Jordan  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  country,  and  thence  to  the  eastern 
side.  All  along  that  route  our  Saviour  and  His  disciples  would  pass 


PAPYRUS. 


through  or  near  towns  and  cities  famous  in  the  history  of  Israel.  The 
course  of  the  Jordan  has  already  been  described.  Back  from  the  river 
and  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Huleh  (the  waters  of  Merom)  rises  a  chain 
of  hills,  most  of  which  were  once  crowned  with  cities  and  populous  vil¬ 
lages.  In  front,  toward  the  river  and  the  lake,  are  rich  plains  of  arable 
land,  and  where  these  are  abruptly  cut  off  by  a  steep  descent,  there  lies 
between  the  hills  and  the  lake  a  swamp  of  rank  and  marshy  vegetation. 
The  whole  of  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Huleh  is  bordered  with  impene- 


524 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


trable  morass  or  cane-brake  in  which  is  found  the  largest  growth  of  papy¬ 
rus  in  the  world.  At  its  base,  the  triangular  stalk  of  the  paper  plant, 
which  the  Arabs  call  babeer ,  is  three  inches  thick,  and  on  the  top  waves  a 
tuft  like  broom-corn.  The  open  water  of  the  lake  is  merely  a  triangle,  but 
north  of  it,  where  the  water  is  not  visible,  is  a  mass  of  floating  papyrus, 
through  which,  and  under  which,  the  stream  of  the  Jordan  makes  its  way. 
No  human  being  has  ever  passed  through  that  impassable  maze.  The 
plain  around  the  lake-swamp  is  exceedingly  productive.  The  thistles 
grow  to  an  enormous  height,  out-topping  a  man  on  horseback,  and  their 
sharp  thorns  are  a  great  annoyance  to  horses.  The  wild  mustard  also 
grows  so  high  and  strong  that  finches  often  take  refuge  in  its  branches. 
This  is  the  most  magnificent  hunting  ground  in  Palestine,  panthers,  leop¬ 
ards,  bears,  wild  boars,  wolves,  jackals,  hyenas,  foxes  and  gazelles  abound. 
Of  water  fowl  there  is  no  end.  The  pelican  is  also  found  in  the  waters  of 
Merom,  and  it  is  said  that  the  number  of  crows  and  rooks  is  so  enormous 
as  to  surpass  anything  known  elsewhere.  In  the  cozy  swamp  the  “bulls 
of  Bashan”  still  delight  to  wallow,  and  on  the  surrounding  plain  they  find 
perennial  pasturage.  The  herbage  is  so  mingled  with  flowers  as  to  make 
a  paradise  for  bees,  so  that  the  land  might  literally  flow  with  milk  and 
honey,  and  the  butter  is  the  best  in  Palestine.  A  species  of  lily  is  found 
here  which  may  have  been  in  our  Saviour’s  mind  when  He  said,  “Con¬ 
sider  the  lilies  how  they  grow.’’  “That  lily,”  says  Dr.  Thomson,  “is  large, 
and  the  inner  petals  meet  above,  forming  a  gorgeous  canopy,  such  as 
art  cannot  approach,  and  king  never  sat  under,  even  in  his  utmost  glory. 
When  I  found  this  glorious  flower  in  all  its  loveliness  I  felt  assured  that 
it  was  to  such  as  that  He  referred.  We  call  it  the  Huleh  lily  because 
it  was  here  that  it  was  first  discovered.  It  is  a  species  of  iris,  but  with 
its  botanical  name,  if  it  have  one,  I  am  unacquainted,  and  I  am  not  anxious 
to  learn  of  any  other  than  that  which  connects  it  with  this  neighborhood.” 
The  distance  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  Lake  Huleh  is  ten  miles,  and 
north  of  the  lake  for  eight  miles  more  on  either  side  of  the  Jordan  lies  a 
fertile  plain  five  miles  wide. 

Opposite  to  Lake  Huleh  at  its  middle  point  is  a  conical  hill  called 
Tell  Khureibeh ,  or  the  Hill  of  the  Ruin,  which  some  authorities  believe  to 
be  the  ancient  Edrei  (Josh,  xix:  37),  but  which  Dr.  Robinson  identifies 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CiESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


525 


with  Hazor.  A  little  to  the  northwest  of  it  is  Tell  Harcch,  which  Wilson 
believes  to  be  the  true  Hazor,  but  which  Tristram  thinks  is  Harosheth.  At 
Tell  Harah  are  many  cisterns  which  escaped  the  ravages  of  the  Crusades, 
and  which  show  that  the  city  which  once  stood  there  must  have  been  large 
and  populous. 


Hazor  was  the  capital  of  Jabin  with  whom  Joshua  fought  the  last 


GIRL  HOLDING  STYLUS  AND  TABLETS. 


A  PAPYRUS  ROLL. 


decisive  battle  of  the  conquest  (Josh,  xi:  1  — 1 5).  The  victory  was  complete, 
but  the  conquest  of  Hazor  was  not  permanent,  since  in  the  time  of  the 

Judges  there  was  another  “Jabin,  King  of  Canaan, 
who  reigned  in  Hazor,  the  captain  of  whose  host 
was  Sisera,  which  dwelt  in  Harosheth  of  theGen- 
tiles”  (Judg.  iv:  2).  We  have  already  sketched  the 
great  battle  in  which  Barak  and  Deborah  destroyed 
the  army  of  Ja- 


PAPYRUS  WRITTEN  IN 
COLUMNS. 


army 

bin  under  Sisera  in  the  Plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon.  We  may  now  give  Dean  Stanley’s 
account  of  the  victory  of  Joshua  over  the 
earlier  king  of  the  same  name:  “After 
the  capture  of  Ai  and  the  battle  of  Beth- 
horon — which  secured  to  him  the  whole 
of  the  south  and  center  of  Palestine — a 


ANCIENT  WRITING  MATERIALS: 

Pen,  Inkstand  and  Roll;  Wax  Tablet  and 
Stylus;  a  Writing  Tablet  closed.  From 
Herculaaeum. 


final  gathering  of  the  Canaanite  races  took  place  in  the  extreme  north, 
under  the  king,  who  bore  the  hereditary  title  of  Jabin  (Josh,  xi:  1), 
and  the  name  of  whose  city,  Hazor,  still  lingers  in  the  slopes  of  Her- 


526 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPE 


mon,  at  the  head  of  the  plain.  Round  him  were*  assembled  the  heads 
of  all  the  tribes  who  had  not  yet  fallen  under  Joshua’s  sword.  As 
the  British  chiefs  were  driven  to  the  Land's  End  before  the  advance 
of  the  Saxon,  so  at  this  Land’s  End  of  Palestine  were  gathered  for 
this  last  struggle,  not  only  the  kings  of  the  north,  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood,  but  from  the  Desert-Valley  of  the  Jordan  south  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  from  the  maritime  Plain  of  Philistia,  from  the  heights 
above  Sharon,  and  from  the  still  unconquered  Jebus,  to  the  Hivite 
who  dwelt  in  the  Valley  of  Baalbec.  .  .  .  ‘under  Plermon;’  all 
these  ‘went  out,  they  and  all  their  hosts  with  them,  even  as  the  sand  is 
upon  the  seashore  in  multitude.  .  .  and  when  all  these  kings  were  met 

together,  they  came  and  pitched  together  at  the  waters  of  Merom  to  fight 
against  Israel.’  (Josh,  xi:  5).  The  new  and  striking  feature  of  this  battle,  as 
distinct  from  those  of  Ai  and  Gibeon,  consisted  in  the  ‘horses  and  chariots 
very  many,’  which  now  for  the  first  time  appear  in  the  Canaanite  warfare, 
and  it  was  for  the  use  of  these,  which  probably  fixed  the  scene  of  the  encamp¬ 
ment  by  the  lake,  along  whose  level  shores  they  could  have  full  play  for 
their  force.  It  was  this  new  phase  of  war  which  called  forth  the  special 
command  to  Joshua,  nowhere  else  recorded:  ‘Thou  shalt  hough  their 
horses,  and  burn  their  chariots  with  fire.’  Nothing  is  told  us  of  his  previ¬ 
ous  movements.  All  that  we  know  is,  that  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  he  was 
within  a  day’s  march  of  the  lake.  On  the  morrow,  by  a  sudden  descent, 
like  that  which  had  raised  the  siege  of  Gibeon,  he  and  all  the  people  of 
war  ‘fell’  (Josh,  xi :  y)  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  them  ‘in  the  mountain’ 
(Josh,  xi:  7)  slopes  of  the  plain,  before  they  had  time  to  rally  on  the  level 
ground.  In  the  sudden  panic  ‘the  Lord  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of 
Israel,  who  smote  them,  and  chased  them’  westward  over  the  mountains 
above  the  gorge  of  the  Leontes  ‘to  Sidon,’  and  eastward  to  the  ‘Plain’  of 
‘Massoch’  or  ‘Mizpeh.’  This  rout  was  complete,  and  the  cavalry  and 
chariots  which  had  seemed  so  formidable  were  visited  with  special  destruc¬ 
tion.  The  horses  were  hamstrung,  and  the  chariots  burned  with  fire. 
And  it  is  not  till  the  revival  of  the  city  of  Hazor,  under  the  second 
Jabin,  long  afterward  (Judg.  iv:  2),  that  they  once  more  appear  in  force 
against  Israel,  descending,  as  now,  from  this  very  plain.  Far  over  the 
western  hills  Joshua  pursued  the  flying  host,  before  ‘he  turneth  back,’  and 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C.ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


527 


‘took  Hazor,’  and  ‘burned  it’  to  the  ground  (Josh,  xi:  10,  11).  The  battle 
of  the  Lake  of  Merom  was  to  the  north  what  the  battle  of  Beth-horon 
had  been  to  the  south;  more  briefly'  told,  less  complete  in  its  conse¬ 
quences,  but  still  the  decisive  conflict  by  which  the  four  northern  tribes 
were  established  in  the  south  of  Lebanon,  by  which  Galilee,  with  its 
sacred  sea,  and  the  manifold  consequences  therein  involved,  was  included 
within  the  limits  of  the 
Holy  Land.” 

A  little  to  the  north 
west  of  Tell  Harah  is 
Kedes ,  the  ancient  Kedesh- 
Naphtali,  the  name  of  § 
which  (the  Holy)  shows  ^ 
that  it  must  have  been  a  * 

PC 

sanctuary,  long  before  | 

the  conquest.  After  it  ^ 

was  taken,  and  its  king  o 

s 

slain  by  Joshua  (Josh.  r 

.  > 

xii:  22),  it  was  included  in  g 
the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  and  g 
was  made  a  Levitical  city,  g 
and  a  city  of  refuge  (Josh, 
xx :  7 ;  xxi:  32).  We  know 
nothing  of  its  after  his¬ 
tory,  except  that  it  was 
the  home  of  Barak,  the 
conqueror  of  Sisera  (Judg.  iv :  6,  10)  and  that  its  people  were  carried  captives 
to  Assyria  by  Tiglath-pileser  (2  Kings  xv:  29).  In  the  time  of  the  Cru¬ 
sades  the  tomb  of  Barak  was  still  shown.  There  are  now  remains  of  a 
very  ancient  character,  most  of  them,  however,  of  the  later  Jewish  period, 
and  among  them  the  ruins  of  a  large  and  beautiful  synagogue.  The  east¬ 
ern  front  and  part  of  the  walls  are  perfect,  and  the  central  door  is  sculp¬ 
tured  with  wreaths.  The  horses  of  the  present  village  are  watered  from 
an  ancient  sarcophagus.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  situation 
of  Kedesh,  standing  securely  on  a  knoll  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  hill. 


528 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CTTAREA  PHILIPPI. 


with  rich  pastures  behind  and  a  bountiful  spring  bubbling  below.  On  the 
lower  ranges  of  the  hill-side  were  hundreds  of  acres  of  olive  trees,  beyond 
them  a  level  plain  of  tilled  land  rich  to  exuberance,  and  then  the  fat  marsh 
pastures  fringing  the  silvery  waters  of  Merom  which  teemed  with  fish. 

Assuredly  this  part  of 
Naphtali  was  “satisfied 
with  favor  and  full  with 
the  blessings  of  the  Lord” 
(Deut.  xxxiii :  23). 

A  t  Hu  nin,  seven 
miles  north  of  Kedes,  is  a 
great  castle  of  the  Cru¬ 
saders  which  they  called 
Chateau  Neuf \  or  New¬ 
castle,  standing  on  the 
walls  and  fosse  of  hunin.  eastward  edge  of  the 

heights  and  towering  two  thousand  feet  above  the  plain  of  the  Hasbani, 
which  is  the  most  northerly  of  the  streams  which  unite  to  form  the 
Jordan.  This  great  castle  measures  740  by  340  feet  and  the  citadel 
on  the  west  is  surrounded  by  a  fosse  or  ditch  20  feet  deep  by  40  wide, 
cut  out  of  the  solid  rock.  The  original  wall  of  the  fortress  was  built 
of  large  bevelled  stones  bound  together  with  iron  clamps  which  may 
even  yet  be  seen  in  some  places.  The  whole  of  the  interior  is  a  mass  of 
shapeless  ruins  in  which  Jewish  bevels,  Roman  arches,  Crusading  masonry 
and  Saracenic  remains  are  mournfully  mingled  together,  and  among 
which  are  scattered  the  wretched  hovels  of  the  present  occupants. 
Hunin ,  according  to  Dr.  Robinson,  is  the  ancient  Beth-rehob ,  the  most 
northern  point  in  the  Holy  Land  which  was  reached  by  the  spies  of  Moses 
(Num.  xiii :  21).  In  the  time  of  David  this  place,  like  others  in  its  neigh¬ 
borhood,  had  become  a  Syrian  dependency,  and  although  the  Syrians 
were  defeated  by  Joab  and  compelled  to  make  peace  with  Israel,  it  does 
not  appear  that  they  were  entirely  subdued  (2  Sam.  x:6,  8,  19). 

Three  miles  north  of  Hunin  is  Abil,  once  called  Abel- Beth- Maachah, 
the  Field  of  the  House  of  Oppression,  also  (2  Chron.  xvi:4)  called  Abel- 
Maim ,  where  the  rebellion  of  Sheba  against  David  was  suppressed 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


529 


(2  Sam.  xx :  14-22).  As  a  border  town,  it  was  exposed  to  attacks  from 
foreign  enemies,  and  was  captured  by  Benhadad,  King  of  Syria  (1  Kings 
xv:2o).  Its  inhabitants  were  carried  into  captivity  by  Tiglath-pileser 
(2  Kings  xv :  29).  Beyond  Abil  a  beautiful  plain  called  Merj  Ayun  pre¬ 
serves  the  name  of  the  city  of  Ijon ,  which  shared  the  fate  of  Abel-Maim 
(2  Kings  xv:29).  On  a  round  hill  at  the  upper  end  of  the  plain  are  the 
remains  of  a  strong  city. 

Crossing  the  Hasbani  we  come  to  Tell  el-Kady,  the  Hill  of  the  Judge , 
that  is  to  say,  Dan,  since  Dan  signified  a judge.  Not  Dan,  however,  but 
Laish,  was  the  original  name  of  the  place,  though  it  is  called  Dan  even  in 
the  Book  of  Genesis  (Gen.  xiv:  14).  It  is  an  extensive  round-top  mound, 
half  a  mile  in  diameter,  rising  eighty  feet  above  the  plain.  The  surround¬ 
ing  country  is  exceedingly  fertile,  yielding  the  finest  wheat  in  Syria.  It 
is  literally  “a  place  where  there  is  no  lack  of  anything  that  is  in  the  earth” 


(Judg.  xviii:  10).  On  the 
west  side  of  the  tell  can 
be  heard  the  murmuring 
of  water  to  which  the 
explorer  must  force  his 
way  through  a  thicket  of 
oleanders.  Beyond,  at 
the  bottom  of  a  rocky 
slope,  is  a  wonderful  ba¬ 
sin  or  pool  fifty  paces  in 
width  and  surrounded  by 
heaps  of  blocks  of  basalt. 

It  is  the  largest  spring  in  gate  of  the  castle  of  hunin. 

Syria,  and  is  said  to  be  the  largest  in  the  world,  and  from  it  emerges 
one  of  the  streams  which  unite  to  form  the  Jordan.  From  the  south¬ 
west  corner  of  the  tell  issues  another  stream,  and  the  two  soon  join 
together  in  one  channel  which  contains  twice  as  much  water  as  the 
stream  from  Banias,  and  thrice  as  much  as  the  river  Hasbani,  and 
might  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  true  Jordan.  By  Josephus  it  was 
called  the  Little  Jordan ;  it  is  now  called  El-Leddan.  The  full-grown 
Jordan  is  formed  by  the  union  of  these  streams  four  and  a  half  miles 


530 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPE 


below  Tell  el-Kady,  where  it  flows  in  a  bed  nearly  a  hundred  feet  wide, 
though  the  river  itself  is  hardly  fifty  feet  wide. 

The  city  of  Laish  was  inhabited  by  a  peaceable  community  of  Phoe¬ 
nicians,  belonging  to  the  confederacy  of  which  Sidon  was  the  head. 
Though  they  were  far  removed  from  their  compatriots,  they  lived  in  quiet 
and  security,  expecting  no  hostile  assault,  minding  their  own  affairs  and 
not  meddling  with  their  neighbors.  For  some  reason  the  tribe  of  Dan  had 
received  a  small  inheritance  in  Israel,  and  sent  spies  to  look  for  some  part 
of  the  land  which  they  might  conquer  and  colonize.  At  Laish,  on  the  ex¬ 
treme  northern  border,  they  found  a  place  which  they  might  well  covet,  and 
a  people  whom  they  might  easily  subdue.  To  Laish,  therefore,  a  party  of 
Danites  went.  It  was  in  that  period  of  the  history  of  Israel  when  there 
was  no  king,  and  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes.  As 
the  Danites  passed  through  the  mountains  of  Ephraim,  they  assured  them¬ 
selves  of  victory  by  stealing  from  Micah  the  graven  image  of  silver  with 
which  he  had  thought  to  conciliate  the  favor  of  God,  and  they  also  carried 
off  the  Levite  whom  he  had  hired  to  act  as  a  priest  in  his  household.  So 
they  “came  into  Laish,  unto  a  people  that  were  at  quiet  and  secure;  and 
they  smote  them  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  burnt  the  city  with  fire; 
and  there  was  no  deliverer,  because  it  was  far  from  Sidon  and  they  had  no 
business  with  any  man.  On  the  ruins  of  Laish  the  children  of  Dan  built  a 
new  city  and  dwelt  therein;  and  they  called  the  name  of  the  city  Dan,  after 
the  name  of  Dan  their  father;  howbeit  the  name  of  the  city  was  Laish  at 
the  first.”  Even  the  Hebrew  historian  seems  to  have  pitied  the  peaceable 
and  helpless  Sidonians  who  became  the  victims  of  these  Danite  ruffians; 
and  there  was  little' reason  for  Israel  to  rejoice  in  the  conquest  of  Laish, 
for  the  Danites  immediately  set  up  the  graven  image  they  had  stolen  from 
Micah,  and  the  new  city  of  Dan  was  ever  afterward  a  sanctuary  of  idola¬ 
try.  It  was  the  northermost  city  of  Israel,  and  the  phrase  “from  Dan  even 
unto  Beersheba”  soon  became  proverbial.  But  that  phrase  indicated  only 
extent,  not  unity,  since  the  idolatry  maintained  at  Dan  was  a  symbol  of 
present  discord  and  a  prophecy  of  future  retribution  (Judg.  xviii).  All  the 
time  that  the  tabernacle  of  Jehovah  was  kept  at  Shiloh  the  idolatry  of  Dan 
was  continued.  Under  King  Jeroboam  it  was  established  in  yet  greater 
splendor,  so  that  Dan  and  Bethel  were  the  two  chief  sanctuaries  of  the 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


531 


northern  kingdom  (1  Kings  xii:  25-31),  Bethel  was  cleansed  of  its  pollu¬ 
tions  by  King  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxiii:  15),  but  a  hundred  years  before  that 
pious  reformation,  the  children  of  Dan  had  been  removed  from  their  de¬ 
lightful  home  and  transported  to  Assyria  and  Media  (2  Kings  xvii:6). 

From  Dan  to  Caesarea  the  distance  is  only  five  miles,  and  the  road 
rises  upward  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  most  majestic  mountain  of  Syria, 
Mount  Hermon.  Though  that  famous  mountain  was  not,  strictly  speak¬ 
ing,  within  the  borders  of  the  Promised  Land,  it  would  be  difficult  not  to 
consider  it  as  belonging  to  Palestine.  From  nearly  every  part  of  Pales¬ 
tine  its  snow-capped  crest  is  to  be  seen.  When  Moses  took  his  long  look 
at  the  land  he  was  not  suffered  to  enter,  he  saw  Hermon  grandly  marking 
its  northern  border.  From  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  and  Bashan,  and 
Hebron,  and  Ephraim,  and  Nazareth,  and  from  many  a  plain  between, 
from  Sharon  and  Philistia,  nay,  even  from  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the 
crest  of  Hermon  bounds  the  view.  Its  name  of  Hermon  signifies  The 
Lofty  and  its  other  Hebrew  name  of  Sion  has  the  same  signification.  By 
the  Sidonians  Hermon  was  called  Sirion ,  The  Glittering ,  and  by  the 
Amorites,  Senir ,  The 
Shield ,  from  the  gleam¬ 
ing  snow  with  which  it  is 
crowned  (Deut.  iii:  9). 

By  the  modern  Arabs  it 
is  known  as  Jebel  esh- 
Sheikh  an  d  Jebel eth-  Thelj , 
the  Chief  Mountain  and  Jordan  sources  at  tell-el-kadi. 

the  Snowy  Mountain.  The  height  of  Hermon  has  not  been  accurately 
measured;  but  it  is  not  more  than  10,000  feet  above  sea-level  and  is  there¬ 
fore  out-topped  by  some  of  the  peaks  of  Lebanon.  Yet  so  isolated  is  it 
and  so  grand  in  its  majestic  solitude  that  it  surpasses  every  other  mountain 
of  Syria. 

In  ages  of  remote  antiquity  Hermon  was  undoubtedly  a  sanctuary  as 
famous  and  revered  as  Jerusalem  and  Mecca  now  are  by  men  of  later 
faiths.  In  the  name  Baal-Hermon  (1  Chron.  v:  23)  we  have  a  remnant  of 
the  former  religion  of  that  sanctuary,  and  every  one  of  the  known  temples 
of  Baal  which  still  exist  is  built  to  face  toward  Hermon.  Long  ages  later 


532 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPE 


Hermon  became  the  sanctuary  of  a  more  graceful  cult;  for  in  one  of  its 
grottoes  was  established  that  worship  of  Pan  from  which  the  city  near  by 
took  its  name  of  Paneas.  Some  recollection  of  its  ancient  sanctity  may 
have  strengthened  the  better  reason  which  led  St.  Peter  to  call  Hermon 
“The  Holy  Mountain”  (2  Pet.  i:  18). 

Standing  at  the  very  head  of  the  deep  sunk  Jordan  Ghor,  Hermon 
draws  to  itself,  and  quickly  condenses  in  its  cold  clear  atmosphere,  the 
vapors  rising  from  the  tropic  depth  of  the  low-lying  river;  and  “the  dews 
of  Hermon”  (Psa.  cxxxiii:3),  which  to  the  Israelites  were  a  proverbial 
symbol  of  gracious  influences,  clothe  the  lower  slopes  of  the  mountain  with 
rich  and  almost  perennial  pastures.  The  vine  thrives;  above  the  region 
of  the  cultivated  grounds  the  almond  flourishes  abundantly;  and  higher 
still  there  is  a  belt  of  fruit  trees  growing  absolutely  wild.  Still  higher  are 
conifers  and  prickly  shrubs  belonging  to  the  flora  of  the  oriental  steppes, 
and  above  all  lies  the  belt  of  snow  which,  even  in  summer,  does  not 
wholly  disappear.  In  the  wilder  parts  of  Hermon  foxes,  wolves,  and 
many  sorts  of  game  are  to  be  found,  and  among  them  the  peculiar  species 
of  brown  bear  which  is  known  to  naturalists  as  Ursus  Syriacus. 

The  form  of  Hermon  is  that  of  a  truncated  cone,  but  it  has  really 
three  summits,  situated,  like  the  angles  of  a  triangle,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  each  other.  This  may  be  the  reason  why  the  Hebrew  Psalmist 
speaks  of  the  Hermons ,  or  Hermonites  as  the  word  is  improperly  rendered 
in  the  Authorized  Version  (Psa.  xlii :  6).  Except  when  covered  with  snow, 
the  cone  is  entirely  naked,  and  a  coat  of  decomposed  limestone  makes  the 
surface  smooth  and  bleak.  “As  summer  advances,  the  snow  gradually 
melts  from  the  tops  of  the  ridges,  but  remains  in  long  glittering  streaks  in 
the  ravines  that  radiate  from  the  center,  looking  in  the  distance  like  the 
white  locks  that  scantily  cover  the  head  of  old  age.”  Canon  Tristram 
gives  the  following  sketch  of  the  view  from  the  summit  of  Hermon.  “We 
were  at  last  on  Hermon,  whose  snowy  head  had  been  a  sort  of  pole-star 
for  the  last  six  months.  We  had  looked  at  him  from  Sidon,  from  Tyre, 
from  Carmel,  from  Gerizim,  from  the  hills  about  Jerusalem,  from  the 
Dead  Sea,  from  Gilead,  and  from  Nebo;  and  now  we  were  looking  down 
on  them  all,  as  they  stood  out  from  the  embossed  map  that  lay  spread  at 
our  feet.  The  only  drawback  was  a  light  fleecy  cloud  which  stretched 


,/  *>  . 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


533 


from  Carmel  s  top  all  along  the  Lebanon,  till  it  rested  upon  Jeoel  Sunnin , 
close  to  Baal-bec.  But  it  lifted  sufficiently  to  give  us  a  peep  of  the 
Mediterranean  in  three  places,  and  amongst  them  of  Tyre.  There  was  a 


MOUNT  HERMON  FROM  TELL-EL-KADI . 

haze,  too,  as  over  the  Ghor ,  so  that  we  could  only  see  as  far  as  Jebel  Ajlun 
and  Gilead;  but  Lakes  Huleh  and  Gennesaret,  sunk  in  the  depths  be¬ 
neath  us,  and  reflecting  the  sunlight,  were  magnificent. 


We  could 


scarcely  realize  that  at  one  glance  we  were  taking  in  the  whole  of  the  land 


534 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


through  which,  for  more  than  six  months,  we  had  been  incessantly 
wandering.  Not  less  striking  were  the  views  to  the  north  and  east,  with 
the  head  waters  of  the  Awaj  (Pharpar)  rising  beneath  us,  and  the  Barada 
(Abana),  in  the  far  distance,  both  rivers  marking  the  courses  of  their 
fertilizing  streams  by  the  deep  green  lines  of  verdure,  till  the  eye  rested 
on  the  brightness  of  Damascus,  and  then  turned  up  the  wide  opening  of 
Coele-Syria,  until  shut  in  by  Lebanon. 

“A  ruined  temple  of  Baal,  constructed  of  squared  stones  arranged 
nearly  in  a  circle,  crowns  the  highest  of  the  three  peaks  of  Hermon,  all 
very  close  together.  We  spent  a  great  part  of  the  day  on  the  summit, 
but  were  before  long  painfully  affected  by.  the  rarity  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  sun  had  sunk  behind  Lebanon  before  we  descended  to  our  tents,  but 
long  after  we  had  lost  him  he  continued  to  paint  and  gild  Hermon  with  a 
beautiful  mingling  of  Alpine  and  desert  hues.’' 

The  situation  of  Banias,  the  ancient  Ccesarea  Philippi ,  is  superb 
beyond  description.  The  approach  to  it  from  Tell-el-Kady  is  through 
park-like  scenery  diversified  with  wooded  hills  and  fertile  valleys  through 
which  countless  streamlets  wind  along  or  dash  down  natural  cascades  in 
the  midst  of  thickets  and  overhanging  vines;  while  ever  before  towers  the 
gigantic  form  of  Mount  Hermon.  The  situation  of  the  Grecian  city  of 
Herod  Philip  to  which  our  Lord  went,  but  which  had  never  been  a  city 
of  Israel,  is  very  admirably  described  by  Dr.  Geikie,  who  says:  “It  lay  on 
the  northeast  of  the  reedy  and  marshy  Plain  of  El  Huleh.  It  was  close 
to  Dan,  the  extreme  north  of  the  bounds  of  ancient  Israel,  as  Beersheba 
was  the  extreme  south.  It  was  almost  on  a  line  with  Tyre,  and  thus,  far 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  rabbis  and  high-priests.  A  town,  Baal-Gad — 
named  from  the  Canaanite  god  of  fortune — had  occupied  the  site  from 
immemorial  antiquity,  but  Philip  had  rebuilt  it  splendidly,  three  years 
before  Christ’s  birth,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  prevailing  flattery  of  the 
emperor,  had  called  it  Caesarea,  in  honor  of  Augustus.  It  had  been  the 
pleasure  of  his  peaceful  reign  to  adorn  it  with  altars,  votive  images,  and 
statues,  and  his  own  name  had  been  added  by  the  people,  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  Caesarea  on  the  sea-coast.  It  was  one  of  the  loveliest  spots  in 
the  Holy  Land,  built  on  a  terrace  of  rock,  part  of  the  range  of  Hermon, 
which  rose  behind  it  seven  or  eight  thousand  feet.  Countless  streams  mur- 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI 


535 


mured  down  the  slopes  amidst  a  unique  richness  and  variety  of  flower  and 
shrub  and  tree.  The  chief  source  of  the  Jordan  still  bursts  in  a  full  silver- 
clear  stream  from  a  bottomless  depth  of  water,  in  the  old  cave  of  Pan,  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  from  beneath  a  high  perpendicular  wall  of  rock, 
adorned  with  niches  once  filled  with  marble  Naiads  of  the  stream  and 
Satyrs  of  the  woods,  and  with  countless  votive  tablets;  but  now  strewn 
round  with  the  ruins  of  the  shepherd  god’s  ancient  temple.  Thick  woods 
still  shade  the  channel  of  the  young  river.  Oaks  and  olive  groves  alter¬ 
nate  with  pastures  and  fields  of  grain,  and  high  over  all  rises  the  old  castle 


RUINS  OF  THE  RAMPARTS  OF  BANIAS. 

of  Banias,  perhaps  the  'Tower  of  Lebanon  that  looketh  toward  Damas¬ 
cus,’  of  the  Song  of  Solomon”  (vii :  4). 

“But  the  center  of  attraction,”  says  Dean  Stanley,  “is  the  higher  source 
of  the  Jordan.  Underneath  the  high  red  limestone  cliff  which  overhangs 
the  town  it  bursts  out,  not,  as  in  the  lower  or  westernmost  source,  in  a  full 
spring,  but  in  many  rivulets,  which,  issuing  from  the  foot  of  the  rock,  first 
form  a  large  basin,  and  then  collect  into  a  rushing  stream.  It  penetrates 
through  the  thickets  on  the  hill  side,  and  in  the  vale  below,  at  some  point 
which  has  never  been  exactly  verified,  joins  the  stream  from  Dan.  In  the 
face  of  the  rock  immediately  above  the  spring,  is  the  large  grotto  which 
furnished  a  natural  sanctuary,  not  indeed  to  the  Israelites,  who,  perhaps, 
never  penetrated  so  far,  but  to  the  Greeks  of  the  Macedonian  kingdom  of 


536 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


Antioch,  The  cavern-sanctuary  of  Caesarea  was  at  once  adopted  by  the 
Grecian  settlers,  both  in  itself  and  for  its  romantic  situation,  the  nearest 
likeness  that  Syria  affords  of  the  beautiful  limestone  grottoes  which  in  their 
own  country  were  inseparably  associated  with  the  worship  of  the  sylvan 
Pan.  This  was  the  one  Paneum  or  ‘sanctuary  of  Pan,’  within  the  limits  of 
Palestine,  which  before  the  building  ol  Philip’s  city  gave  to  the  town  the 
name  of  Paneas ,  a  name  which  has  outlived  the  Roman  substitute,  and 
still  appears  in  the  modern  appellation  of  Banias.  Greek  inscriptions  in 
the  face  of  the  rock  testify  its  original  purpose;  the  reverence  thus  begun 
was  continued  by  the  Romans,  the  white  marble  temple  built  by  Herod  to 
Augustus  crowned  its  summit,  and  in  later  times  Jewish  pilgrims  mistook 
the  traces  ol  this  Gentile  worship  for  the  vestiges  of  the  altar  of  the  Dan- 
ites  and  Jeroboam;  and  Christian  or  Mussulman  devotion  has  erected 
above  it  one  of  the  numerous  tombs  dedicated  to  the  mysterious  saint 
whom  the  one  calls  St.  George  and  the  other  Elijah.” 

Eleven  hundred  feet  above  sea-level,  and  still  nine  thousand  feet 
below  the  summit  of  Mount  Hermon,  lay  the  ancient  Caesarea,  naturally 
fortified  on  three  sides  by  the  river  and  a  deep  valley.  The  remaining 
side  was  strongly  fortified  with  three  round  towers  which  still  remain,  and 
an  immense  fosse  which  could  be  flooded  when  necessary.  The  bridge 
was  defended  by  a  large  square  tower,  through  the  town  ran  an  ample 
aqueduct,  and  magnificent  granite  columns,  which  are  still  found  lying  on 
the  ground,  show  what  manner  of  buildings  adorned  the  streets  of  Caesarea. 
In  the  center  of  the  south  side  of  the  castle  is  an  ancient  portal  on  which 
an  Arabic  inscription  has  been  carved,  and  from  which  a  stone  bridge 
crosses  the  wady. 

Something  over  two  miles  from  Banias  is  the  vast  fortress  of  Subeibeh, 
2,000  feet  long  by  300  wide,  the  huge  walls  of  which  are  still  in  some  places 
100  feet  high.  From  the  north,  the  south  and  the  west,  this  fortification 
is  almost  inaccessible,  and  on  the  remaining  side  it  is  so  defended  as  to 
have  been  called  the  Gibraltar  of  Palestine.  Situated  at  the  base  of 
Mount  Hermon  it  commands  the  passage  to  and  from  the  countries  lying 
east  of  Syria  which  was  used  by  Chedorlaomer  2,000  years  before  the 
birth  of  Christ.  On  the  road  leading  to  Tyre  Assyrian  sculptures  have 
been  found  which  prove  that  this  was  the  route  taken  by  the  great  armies 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI 


537 


of  Assyria  in  invading  Palestine  and  Tyre;  and  the  Phoenicians  would  be 
almost  under  the  necessity  of  fortifying  this  pass  for  their  own  defence. 
At  the  eastern  end  of  the  castle,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  it, 
stands  the  citadel  with  a  wall  and  a  moat  of  its  own;  so  that,  as  Josephus 
says,  the  garrison  could  retire  into  the  citadel  and  make  a  protracted 
defence,  even  after  the  main  castle  had  been  taken  by  an  enemy.  In  the 


THE  TRANSFIGURATION.  ( MATT.  XVII:  1-8.) 


time  of  the  Crusades  the  castle  of  Subeibeh  naturally  played  an  important 
part,  but  its  history  is  too  long  to  be  told  here. 

It  was  somewhere  in  the  course  of  this  interesting  journey,  and  prob¬ 
ably  in  the  vicinity  of  Caesarea  Philippi,  that  our  Lord  asked  His  disciples 
to  tell  Him  how  He  was  regarded  by  the  common  people.  The  ideas  of 
the  people  concerning  Him  were  all  abroad.  Some  of  them  supposed 
Him  to  be  John  the  Baptist;  some  thought  He  was  Elijah;  some  imagined 


538 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C7ESAREA  PHILIPPE 


He  must  be  the  sad  prophet  Jeremiah ;  the  general  opinion  of  those  who 
believed  in  Him  at  all  was  that  He  was  one  of  the  old  prophets  who  had 
risen  from  the  dead.  I  hen  Jesus  asked  the  disciples  whom  they  sup¬ 
posed  Him  to  be,  and  in  the  name  of  all  of  them,  Peter  answered,  ‘‘Thou 
art  the  Clnist,  the  Son  of  the  living  God!  If  this  sublime  confession, 
the  coinei  stone  of  the  Christian  faith,  was  pronounced  in  the  vicinity  of 
Csesaiea  Philippi,  then  the  rocky  slopes  of  Hermon  would  afford  a  thous¬ 
and  ready  illustrations  of  its  mighty  significance.  “Thou  art  Peter,”  said 
the  Master,  that  is,  a  living  stone  ( Petros )  “of  the  living  Temple  I  am  rear¬ 
ing,  but  on  this  rock  (petra) ,  this  immovable  truth  which  flesh  and  blood 
hath  not  revealed  unto  thee,  I  will  build  My  Church;  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it.”  In  the  lofty  glades  of  the  majestic  Hermon 
were  a  thousand  places  where  eternal  rocks  and  snow-strewn  stones  would 
fitly  symbolize  the  firm  foundation  of  the  faith  and  the  “lively  stones”  of 
which  the  Church  of  Christ  is  builded  (Matt,  xvi:  13-18);  Mark  viii:  27-29; 
Luke  ix:  18-20).  Alas,  that  so  plain  a  matter  should  be  wrested  to  sup¬ 
port  the  anti-Christian  pretensions  of  the  Church  of  Rome;  in  this  cer¬ 
tainly  anti-Christian,  since  they  affirm  that  the  “Church’s  one  foundation” 
is  not  Christ,  but  the  weak  Apostle  Peter.  Not  so  thought  St.  Paul  when 
he  said,  “Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  even  Jesus 
Christ”  (1  Cor.  iii:  11).  How  little  the  impulsive  and  warm-hearted  Peter 
could  be  trusted  as  an  infallible  foundation  of  anything  was  sadly  and 
quickly  shown;  for  it  was  almost  immediately  afterward,  and  while  still 
among  the  impressive  scenes  in  which  these  solemn  conferences  were  held, 
that  our  Saviour  began  to  tell  His  disciples  of  the  fast  approaching 
tragedy  in  which  His  personal  ministry  on  earth  was  to  be  closed.  That 
prophecy  surpassed  the  faith  of  Peter,  who  began  to  rebuke  Him  whom 
He  had  just  confessed  to  be  the  Son  of  God!  “Far  be  it  from  Thee, 
Lord,”  he  said;  “this  shall  not  be  unto  Thee.”  Jesus  was  ineffably  gen¬ 
tle:  but  He  had  the  sternness  which  is  sometimes  the  true  voice  of  love; 
and  that  sternness  was  heard  in  the  answer  He  then  made  to  Peter: 
“Get  thee  behind  me,  thou  Satan;  thou  art  an  offence  unto  Me;  thou 
savorest  not  of  the  things  which  be  of  God,  but  of  those  that  be  of  men!” 
So  quickly  had  the  little  human  stone  which  the  Church  of  Rome  would 
make  the  rock  of  the  Church’s  foundation,  become  an  offence,  that  is 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI 


539 


to  say,  a  stone  of  stumbling ,  as  the  papacy  has  always  been  (Matt,  xvi: 
21-23;  Mark  viii:  31-33). 

It  was  six  days  after  these  events  that  Jesus  took  with  Him  Peter 
and  James  and  John,  and  ascended  “an  high  mountain,”  which  must 
surely  have  been  Hermon,  and  was  transfigured  before  them  (Matt,  xvii: 


REMAINS  OF  THE  CASTLE  OF  SUBEYBEH  ABOVE  BANIAS. 


1-9;  Mark  ix:2-8;  Luke  ix:  28-36).  It  was  a  fit  spot  for  our  Saviour  to 
take  a  long  look  over  the  many  scenes  of  His  earthly  pilgrimage.  Before 
Him  lay  the  Beautiful  Land  spread  out  like  a  map.  Not  far  off  were  the 
hills  of  Nazareth  where  His  infant  years  were  spent.  Stretching  from 
north  to  south  was  the  deep  Ghor  of  the  Jordan,  on  whose  banks  He 
had  so  often  journeyed  on  His  frequent  expeditions  to  the  Holy  City. 


540 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


Near  the  Dead  Sea,  which  was  clearly  visible,  was  the  place  where  John 
had  baptized  Him,  and  a  little  east  of  it  the  gloomy  Mountain  of  Temp¬ 
tation.  Wherever  He  gazed  some  natural  object  would  remind  Him  of 
the  countless  works  and  words  He  had  done  and  spoken  in  proclaiming 
and  exhibiting  His  gospel.  Beyond  the  mountains  of  Gilead  on  the  east 
and  the  Midland  Sea  on  the  west,  beyond  the  hills  of  Hebron  on  the 
south  and  the  mighty  ranges  of  Lebanon  on  the  north,  the  good  news 
of  that  gospel  and  its  healing  influences  were  yet  to  be  borne  to  far-off 
lands  by  the  poor  fishermen  whom  He  had  taught  and  trained  for  that 
tremendous  work  of  winning  a  world  to  God.  But  before  they  could  set 

out  on  that  marvellous 
work,  He  was  to  be  taken 
from  them;  and  the 
time  was  now  not  far 
off;  it  was  nigh  at  hand. 
When  He  descended 
from  that  mountain,  it 
would  be  to  set  His  face 
toward  Jerusalem,  there 
to  be  offered  up.  Two 
mountains  must  have 
been  conspicuously  pres¬ 
ent  to  His  thoughts — 
as  they  were  conspicuous  to  His  vision — Pisgah,  the  silent  and  mys¬ 
terious  resting-place  of  Moses,  the  Prophet  of  Law;  and  Carmel,  the 
triumphant  scene  of  the  victory  of  Elijah,  the  Prophet  of  Vengeance. 
Law  is  love  unrecognized;  vengeance  itself  is  only  love  disguised;  but  the 
significance  of  both  must  be  revealed  by  the  Prophet  of  Reconciliation. 
On  “a  green  hill  far  away,”  a  mere  knoll  of  the  Mountains  of  Jerusalem, 
He  was  to  read  the  riddle  which  makes  all  things  plain,  and  then  from  the 
summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  He  was  to  ascend  to  other  scenes  of 
which  the  poet  can  but  dream,  and  even  the  prophet  can  but  babble. 
As  He  gazed  and  meditated  on  the  past,  the  present  and  the  wondrous 
future,  “the  Life”  that  is  “the  Light  of  Men,”  illuminated  His  whole 
being.  The  inner  nature  of  the  Christ  sent  an  ethereal  radiance  gleam- 


REMAINS  OF  PHOENICIAN  TEMPLE  AT  H I BBARIYEH. 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  C/ESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


541 


ing  through  His  mortal  frame  and  glistening  through  the  very  garments 
which  He  wore.  While  He  had  been  gazing  and  praying,  night  had 
fallen,  and  the  drowsy  followers  He  had  brought  with  Him  were  fast 
asleep.  It  was  ever  so  in  the  great  crises  of  His  life.  His  most  solemn 
hours  were  spent,  “apart,  by  Himself,  alone.”  On  Hermon,  and  a  few 
days  later,  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  the  same  three  slept  and  left 
Him  utterly  alone.  Yet  He  was  not  alone;  the  Father  was  with  Him; 
and  two  grand  human  figures  came  and  stood  beside  Him  to  partake  in 
these  His  last  meditations.  Well  does  John  Ruskin  speak  of  those  three 
who  were  there  together.  “When,  in  the  desert,  He  was  girding  Him¬ 
self  for  the  work  of  life,  angels  of  life  came  and  ministered  unto  Him; 
now,  in  the  fair  world,  when  He  is  girding  Himself  for  the  work  of  death, 
the  ministrants  come  to  Him  from  the  grave — but  from  the  grave  con¬ 
quered — one  from  that  tomb  under  Abarim,  which  His  own  hand  had 
sealed  long  ago;  the  other  from  the  rest  into  which  He  had  entered 
without  seeing  corruption.”  There  stood  by  Him  Moses  and  Elias,  and 
spake  of  His  decease.  And  when  the  prayer  is  ended,  the  task  accepted, 
then  first  since  the  star  paused  over  Him  at  Bethlehem,  the  full  glory 
falls  upon  Him  from  heaven,  and  the  testimony  is  borne  to  His  ever¬ 
lasting  sonship  and  power — “Hear  ye  Him.”  It  was  of  His  decease  that 
Moses  and  Elias  spake  at  that  time  to  Jesus,  for  His  decease  was 
imminent.  It  behooved  Him  first  to  suffer,  and  afterward  to  enter  into 
glory;  and,  perhaps  to  strengthen  Him  for  his  “unknown  sufferings,”  as 
the  Greeks  beautifully  say,  a  foretaste  of  the  coming  glory  was  vouchsafed 
Him  in  His  transfiguration  on  Mount  Hermon. 

For  the  weak  disciples,  too,  whose  faith  was  soon  to  be  so  sorely 
tried,  some  token  of  His  glory  was  perhaps  required  to  make  their  restora¬ 
tion  to  entire  faith  possible  when  they  should  have  seen  the  tragedy  of 
Golgotha.  They  started  out  of  sleep  and  for  a  moment  saw  the  glory  of 
their  Master.  Somehow  they  knew  the  mighty  men  of  old  who  stood 
with  Him  and  talked  with  Him;  and  then  the  splendid  vision  faded  from 
their  sight.  No  man  was  with  them  save  Jesus  only,  Jesus,  no  more 
gleaming  with  the  light  of  heaven,  only  the  Man  of  Sorrows  who  was 
soon  to  bear  his  Cross  along  the  Via  Dolorosa.  Poor  blundering  Peter 
wist  not  what  to  say,  and  yet  he  spoke.  He  would  fain  tarry  where  he 


542 


FROM  DECAPOLIS  TO  CAESAREA  PHILIPPI. 


was,  high  on  the  slopes  of  Hermon.  He  would  fain  build  tabernacles  for 
his  Master  and  the  Prophets.  But  it  was  not  to  be  so.  For  the  Son  of 
Man  the  time  of  tabernacles  was  nearly  gone.  It  was  but  a  step  now  to 
the  place  of  many  mansions  which  abide  forever.  Therefore  from  the 
steeps  of  Hermon  and  the  momentary  joy  of  His  transfiguration,  Jesus 
turned  Himself  and  set  his  face  steadfastly  to  go  unto  Jerusalem,  there  to 
do  and  suffer  all  that  the  prophets  had  told  aforetime  concerning  Him. 
From  Hermon  to  Golgotha!  From  Golgotha  to  Olivet!  From  Olivet  to 
the  New  Jerusalem,  the  One  Eternal  City  of  the  Great  King! 


•  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


Ruins  of  all  Ages — Excursion  I: — From  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon  to  Job’s  Well — Austrian  Consulate— 
Talitha  Kumi  —Leper  Hospital — Valley  of  Gihon — -Jewish  Hospice— Valley  of  Hinnom — Gehenna 
— Tomb  of  David — Chamber  ofthe  LastSupper — House  of  Caiaphas — House  of  Annas — The  Field 
of  Blood — Excursion  II: — Road  to  Neby  Samwil — Tombs  of  the  Judges — Tombs  of  the  Kings — 
Cavern  of  Zedekiah — Queen  Helena  of  Adiabene — Tombs  of  Simon  the  Just  and  of  the  Sanhe¬ 
drim — Grotto  of  Jeremiah — Tell  ez-Zahara— Its  Resemblance  to  a  Skull — The  Place  of  the  Cru¬ 
cifixion — Various  Opinions  on  the  Subject— Excursion  III: — Down  the  Kidron  Valley— Place  of 
the  Last  Judgment — Bridge  Across  the  Kidron — Tomb  of  the  Virgin — Gethsemane — The  Ancient 
Olives — Place  of  the  Betrayal — Ascent  of  the  Mount  of  Olives — Place  of  the  Weeping  over  Jeru¬ 
salem — Kefr  et-Tur — Church  of  the  Ascension — View  from  the  Summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives — - 
Down  the  Mountain — Tomb  of  the  Prophets — Tomb  of  Jehoshaphat — Tomb  of  Absalom — Tomb 
of  St.  James — Tomb  of  Zachariah — Village  of  Silwan — Excursion  IV: — Around  the  Walls — Cas¬ 
tle  of  Goliath — The  Jaffa  Gate  and  Market  Place — The  Citadel — Southeast  Angle — South  Wall — - 
Gate  of  the  Prophet  David  or  Zion  Gate — The  Dung  Gate — The  Double  Gate — The  Triple  Gate 
— The  Single  Gate— East  Wall— Golden  Gate — St.  Stephen’s  Gate— North  Wall — Gate  of  Herod 
— Damascus  Gate — The  Cotton  Grotto. 

J  taking  the  most  rapid  possible  survey  of 
modern  Jerusalem  we  shall  find  things  new 
and  old  strangely  mingled  together.  Side 
by  side  or  in  immediate  contact  are  monu¬ 
ments  of  the  time  of  Solomon,  remains  of 
Roman  architecture,  ruins  of  the  Crusading 
period  and  buildings  erected  within  the 
present  generation.  Near  the  wall  of  the 
ancient  Temple  Area  Jewish  lamentations 
are  still  heard  bewailing  the  desolation  of 
Zion.  On  Mount  Moriah,  perhaps  on  the  very  site  of  Herod’s  Temple, 
stands  the  Mosque  of  Omar  with  its  glorious  dome  surmounted  by  the 
crescent  symbol  of  Islam.  In  various  parts  are  churches,  convents,  schools 
and  hospitals  of  Christian  sects:  Greek,  Roman,  Coptic,  Anglican,  Arme¬ 
nian  and  Abyssinian,  which  have  no  dealings  with  each  other,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  six  times  repeated  prayer  of  their  One  Master  that  they 
might  “all  be  one!”  In  all  directions  may  be  seen  the  flags  of  distant 
nations,  pilgrims  from  many  lands  throng  to  the  sacred  places,  and  the 

543 


544 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


tongues  of  many  peoples  may  be  heard  in  every  street,  for  now,  more  than 
in  any  former  age,  Jerusalem  is  El  Khuds ,  the  Holy  City. 

With  the  aid  of  the  map,  the  student  will  find  it  useful  and  interesting 
to  acquaint  himself  with  the  surroundings  of  Jerusalem  before  enteriug 
within  the  walls,  and  for  that  purpose  we  shall  offer  our  guidance  in  four 
short  excursions,  as  follows: 

Excursion  I.  From  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon,  through  the  Valley 
of  Gihon  and  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  to  Job’s  Well. 

Excursion  II.  From  the  Jaffa  Gate  to  the  Tombs  of  the  Judges,  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings  and  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah. 

Excursion  III.  Down  the  Kidron  Valley  to  Job’s  Well. 

Excursion  IV.  Around  the  Walls. 


Excursion  I.  From  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon  to  Job’s  Well. 

The  traveler  who  approaches  Jerusalem  by  the  road  from  Jaffa  passes 
through  a  cluster  of  watch-towers  about  a  mile  from  the  northwestern 
angle  of  the  city,  and  then  on  his  left  is  the  English  Mission  House.  A 
little  further  on,  still  on  his  left,  is  the  Austrian  Consulate,  and  on  his 
right  is  Talitha  Kumi,  an  orphanage  where  a  hundred  Arab  girls  are  edu¬ 
cated  by  seven  Westphalian  Deaconesses  under  the  direction  of  their 
Superior.  Skirting  the  road  on  its  left  or  northern  side,  and  beautifully 
situated  on  a  rising  ground,  he  will  next  pass  the  extensive  buildings 
belonging  to  the  Russian  Government,  and  consisting  of  two  immense 
hospices  for  male  pilgrims,  a  third  hospice  for  women,  a  noble  church,  a 
well-appointed  hospital  and  the  consulate.  On  the  other  side  of  the  road, 
at  a  distance  of  three  or  four  hundred  yards,  is  the  Upper  Pool  of  Gihon 
which  has  already  been  described  (p.  324).  Two  hundred  yards  south  of 
the  pool  is  a  leper  hospital,  but  not  far  from  the  Jaffa  Gate,  another 
hospital  for  lepers  exists  within  the  walls,  and  will  be  mentioned  here¬ 
after. 

Two  hundred  yards  east  of  the  pool  we  enter  the  Valley  of  Gihon,  or, 
more  properly,  the  northwestern  part  of  the  Valley  of  Hinnom.  Turning 
south,  we  pass  the  Jaffa  Gate  and  the  citadel  on  the  left,  and  go  straight 
on  to  the  southwestern  angle  of  the  city  wall  within  which  is  the  spacious 


.Tombs  ofOieh 
*  (Tomb  of  Net 


ihmus 


< Ancient 
Cisterns 


s'// cistern- 


■Amu. Hi 


Tower 


yrSTr/tet 

vAjicaB- 

-Oal  (■/ 


'/Sr 

.»  Mo/iNbimecian 
)  0  7bm6i^~  -  - 

ilftgP 

P'S'.1 


^  Kefr  etT.ur}; 

Sf COurth  of theA$c6 

/iff  /I 


<6§£  ect  Oa/>ar/yjy^ 
■{^eJIterncdTjate. 


IH  ill  AM  KSH 
ip'/.Jg  °M*  Propfttt 


1  Armenian  Convent  of  St.  James 

2  Armenian  Convent  <>f  the  Olive  Tree 

3  Greek  Convent  of  St.  George 

4  Syrian  Convent  JyS-:' 

5  Greek  Convent  of  St.  Basil  f 

6  Greek  Convent  of  St.  Theodore  '  J) 

7  Casa  Nuova  &  Latin  Convent  of  St.  Salvador  (f 

8  Greek  Convent  of  St.  Demetrius  _ 

9  Convent  of  the  Greek  Catholics  A\ 

10  Coptic  Convent  of  St.  George 

11  Greek  Convent  of  the  Virgin 

12  Bath  of  the  Patriarch 

13  Mediterranean  Hotel 

14  Greek  Convent  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 

15  Latin  Convent 

16  Greek  Convent  of  St.  George 

17  Greek  Convent  &  Hospice  of  St.  Michael 

18  Greek  Convent  ot  St.John  Euthymius 

19  Greek  Convent  of  the  Lady 

20  Damascus  Hotel 

21  Convent  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Armenians 

22  Prussian  Consulate  &  Hospice  of  Knights  of  St.  John 

23  English  Consulate 

24  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Sion 

25  Austrian  Consulate 

26  French  Consulate 

27  Spanish  Consulate 

28  Greek  Convent  of  Gethsemane 

29  Greek  Convent  of  Abraham 

30  Protestant  Chm  ch 

31  Greek  Consulate 

32  House  of  Abu  Saud 

33  Greek  Convent  of  Constantine 

34  Mission  Hospital 


To  Bet?*} 


Tombs 
or  the  Pro/. 


fBtrkeh 
es  \ 
A  altar,) 
i  OtrCP 
POOL  oA 
C/hoaA\ 


Si/wdnior 


Ccerac 

I  fDavta 


Wk 


tsoo 


* 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


549 


garden  of  the  Armenian  monastery.  In  the  valley,  directly  opposite  to 
that  angle,  is  the  upper  end  of  the  Lower  Pool  of  Gihon  (p.  546  );  and  on 
the  other  side  of  the  valley  southwest  of  the  pool,  is  Sir  Moses  Monte- 
fiore’s  Jewish  TIospice  or  Poor-House  for  indigent  Jews. 

Here  the  valley  makes  a  sweeping  circuit  to  the  east,  round  the  foot 
of  Mount  Zion,  and.  we  are  now  in  the  Ge  Bene  Hinnom,  the  Valley  of  the 
Children  of  Groaning,  also  called  Tophet,  where  young  children  were  once 
sacrificed  to  Moloch  (2  Kings  xxiii:  10).  and  Jewish  kings  surrendered  their 


JAFFA  GATE,  OK  HEBRON  GATE,  JERUSALEM. 


own  offspring  to  be  offered  as  victims  to  that  bloody  god.  So  utterly 
detestable  did  that  place  become  in  the  estimation  of  the  Jews,  that 
Gehenna ,  which  is  a  contraction  of  its  Hebrew  name,  came  in  New  Testa¬ 
ment  times  to  signify  a  place  of  torment. 

North  of  this  valley  of  infamy  is  a  large  part  of  Mount  Zion,  which  is 
not  now  inclosed  within  the  city  wall,  and  on  its  summit,  surrounded  by 
the  burying-places  of  Latins,  Greeks,  Armenians,  Jews,  English  and 


55° 


THE  ENVIRONS  OE  JERESALEM. 


Americans,  is  Neby  Daud ,  the  (Tomb  of  the)  Prophet  David,  which  is 
also  called  Coenaculum ,  or  the  Chamber  of  the  Last  Supper.  It  is  a  col¬ 
lection  of  buildings,  almost  a  village,  in  which  many  traditions  are  singu¬ 
larly  mingled.  That  the  Tomb  of  David  may  have  been  here  is  entirely 

possible;  that  the  Last 
Supper  may  have  been 
celebrated  near  the  same 
spot  is  not  unlikely;  that 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
on  the  Day  of  Pentecost 
m  may  have  been  received  in 

o  the  same  chamber  in 
o 

*  which  the  Eucharist  was 
^  instituted  may  be  regard¬ 
's  ed  as  probable;  whether 

%  the  Blessed  Virgin  died 
1 — » 

tn  there  or  not  nobody  can 
~w  . 

g  possibly  know;  but  that 

w  the  precise  spot  of  each 
§  and  all  of  these  different 
^  facts  or  events  should  now 
o  be  ascertainable  is  simply 
^  absurd.  Yet  the  Cham- 
m  ber  of  the  Last  Supper 
is  exhibited,  and  in  a 
lower  room  the  place  where 
the  Lord’s  Table  stood 
is  shown  to  the  visitor. 
In  a  side  room  adjacent 
to  the  latter  is  a  modern 
coffin  which  represents  the  sarcophagus  of  David,  and  is  said  to  be  a  copy  of 
the  genuine  coffin  which  is  alleged  still  to  exist  in  a  subterranean  vault,  and 
in  honor  of  which  the  Moslem  mosque  was  erected.  In  the  time  of  the  Cru¬ 
saders  a  two-storied  church  stood  here,  with  three  apses  in  the  lower 
story.  In  one  of  them  was  an  altar  commemorative  of  the  washing  of  the 


NT  ZION,  FROM  THE  HILL  OF  EVIL  COUNSEL. 
(On  the  right,  In  front  of  the  Offence,  Is  the  village  of  Siloam.) 


THE  ENVIRONS  OE  JERUSALEM 


553 


Apostles’  feet  by  our  Saviour  which  occurred  on  that  very  spot;  the 
second  had  an  altar  on  the  spot  where  He  appeared  to  them  on  the  even¬ 
ing  of  the  first  Easter  day;  the  altar  of  the  third  marked  the  spot  where 
the  Blessed  Virgin  died;  and  in  the  upper  story  was  the  scene  of  the  Last 
Supper  and  of  the  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Not  even  stupid  superstition 
avails  utterly  to  destroy  the  spirit  of  Christianity;  for  beside  the  Church 
of  the  Coenaculum  was  a  monastery  with  a  vast  hospital  for  the  solace  and 
entertainment  of  pilgrims.  To  this  day  the  Superior  of  the  Franciscans  is 


THE  MOSQUE  OE  DAVID  AND  COENACULUM  ON  MOUNT  ZION. 


called  the  “Guardian  of  Mount  Zion;”  but  the  Moslems  long  ago  took  pos¬ 
session  of  Neby  Daud,  and  the  Christian  visitor  must  now  pay  a  few 
piastres  to  the  Moslem  guard  for  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  supposed 
Coenaculum  and  the  Tomb  of  David. 

North  of  Neby  Daud  and  near  the  Gate  of  David  in  the  southern  wall 
of  the  city  is  the  traditional  House  of  Caiaphus.  Within  the  same  gate, 
and  about  a  hundred  yards  north  of  it,  is  the  traditional  House  of  Annas 
(John  xviii:  13,  24). 


554  THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 

On  the  south  of  the  Valley  of  Hinnom  rises  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel, 
so-called  because  of  a  tradition  that  it  was  in  a  villa  belonging  to  Caia- 
phas  on  that  hill  that  the  chief  priests  and  elders  of  Israel  took  counsel 
together  against  Jesus  to  put  Him  to  death  (John  xi:  53).  In  its  steep 
sides  many  tombs  have  been  excavated,  some  of  which  seem  originally  to 
have  been  closed  by  gates  hung  on  sockets  of  stone;  and  toward  the  east- 


JESUS  WASHING  THE  DISCIPLES’  FEET.  (JOHN  XIII :  5.) 

ern  end  of  the  Valley  is  Aceldama,  the  Field  of  Blood,  the  potter’s  field 
for  the  burial  of  strangers,  bought  with  the  price  paid  for  the  betrayal  of 
Jesus.  “An  old  ruin  thirty  feet  long  and  twenty  wide,  with  one  side  of 
naked  rock  and  the  other  of  drafted  stone,  forms  a  flat-roofed  cover  to  a 
dismal  house  of  the  dead.  Two  caverns  beneath  the  floor,  having  their 
rocky  sides  pierced  with  loculi  for  corpses,  are  connected  with  galleries 
of  tombs  which  extend  from  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  There  are  holes  in 


JERUSALEM  FROM  THE 


— — — " — “ 


— 


— 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


557 


the  roof  of  the  ruin  through  which  the  bodies  were  let  down  by  ropes, 
and  there  are  marks  of  steps  by  which  the  tombs  were  entered.  Clay 
from  the  potter’s  field  is  still  used  by  the  potters  of  Jerusalem. 

As  the  valley  goes  eastward  it  “becomes  very  narrow,  steep  rocks 
forming  its  wall  on  the  southern  side,  while  on  the  upper  side  Mount  Zion 
descends  in  steps  like  terraces,  but  very  abruptly.  Olive  and  almond 
trees  cast  their  soft  shadows  over  the  rising  green  of  the  littie  stony  fields 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  GROTTO  OF  JEREMIAH. 


in  the  hollow  and  on  the  rocky  sides  of  the  ravine.  The  whole  scene  is 
beautiful  in  its  quiet  repose;  yet  it  was  in  this  narrow  valley,  now  filled 
with  budding  fruit-trees  and  springing  grain  and  sweet  flowers,  that  the 
Israelites  once  offered  their  children  to  Moloch,  and  these  very  rocks  have 
echoed  the  screams  of  innocent  victims  and  reverberated  with  the  chants 
and  drums  of  the  priests,  raised  to  drown  the  cries  of  agony.”  About  a 
hundred  yards  below  Aceldama  the  Hinnom  Valley  is  joined  by  the  Tyro- 
peon,  and  a  little  to  the  southeast  they  unite  with  the  Kidron  Valley 
above  Job’s  Well  (p.336). 


558 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


Excursion  IE  To  the  Tombs  of  the  Judges,  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings 
and  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah. 

On  this  excursion,  after  leaving  the  Jaffa  Gate,  we  take  the  road  to 
Neby  Samwil,  pass  the  Russian  buildings  on  the  left,  and  proceed  through 
olive  groves,  ash-heaps,  cisterns  and  ruins,  until  we  come  to  the  Tombs  of 
the  Judges,  a  little  more  than  two  miles  north  of  our  starting  point. 
These  remarkable  tombs  are  well  worthy  of  a  careful  examination. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  rock  is  a  small  fore-court  seven  and  one-half 
feet  deep,  leading  to  a  vestibule  twelve  feet  wide,  open  in  front,  and 
provided  with  a  gable.  Another  gable  rises  over  the  portal  which  leads 
into  the  tomb-chamber.  The  southeast  and  northwest  corners  of  the 
first  tomb-chamber  are  imbedded  in  rubbish.  On  the  north  side  of 
it  are  seven  shaft-tombs,  above  which  are  three  vaulted  niche  tombs, 
and  at  the  back  of  these  again  are  several  shaft-tombs.  Adjoining 
this  first  chamber  on  the  east  and  on  the  south  are  two  others  nearly 
on  the  same  level,  and  two  on  a  lower  level.  The  myth  that  the  Judges 
of  Israel  are  buried  here  is  modern.  There  are  many  other  rock-tombs 
in  the  vicinity,  but  none  of  such  extent  as  these. 

A  mile  and  a  half  southeast  of  the  so-called  Tombs  of  the  Judges  are 
The  Tombs  of  the  Kings.  Of  these  tombs  which  he  rightly  describes 
as  “bewildering  catacombs,”  Dr.  Thomson  gives  the  following  description: 

“Those  who  made  these  tombs  selected  a  platform,  nearly  level,  of 
hard  limestone  rock,  and  in  this  they  excavated  an  open  court,  almost 
ninety  feet  square  and  twenty  deep.  This  court  was,  no  doubt,  perfectly 
protected  all  around,  though  the  rock  on  the  eastern  side  is  now  broken 
away.  To  obtain  access  to  the  court  a  trench  was  cut  on  the  side  of  it, 
having  a  gradual  slope  eastward.  Near  the  eastern  end  of  this  trench  was 
an  arched  door-way,  cut  through  the  solid  rock,  opening  into  the  court, 
which  I  suppose  was  originally  the  only  entrance.  On  the  west  side  of  it 
is  a  portico  thirty-nine  feet  long,  seventeen  feet  wide,  and  fifteen  high, 
measuring  from  the  rock  floor.  The  front  of  this  portico  w^as  originally 
ornamented  with  grapes,  garlands,  and  festoons,  beautifully  wrought  on 
the  cornice;  and  the  two  columns  in  the  center,  and  the  pilasters  at  the 
corners,  appear  to  have  resembled  the  Corinthian  order.  A  very  low  door 
in  the  south  end  of  the  portico  opens  into  the  antechamber,  nineteen  feet 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM 


559 


square  and  seven  or  eight  high.  From  this  three  passages  conduct  into 
other  rooms,  two  of  them  to  the  south,  which  are  about  twelve  feet  square, 
and  have  each  five  or  six  crypts.  On  the  west  side  is  a  room  thirteen  feet 
square,  and  a  passage  leads  from  it  down  several  steps  into  a  large  vault 
running  north,  where  are  crypts  parallel  to  the  sides.  These  rooms  are 
all  cut  in  intensely  hard  rock,  and  the  entrances  were  originally  closed 
with  stone  doors,  wrought  with  panels  and  hung  on  stone  hinges,  which 


EZ-ZAHARA,  THE  GROTTO  OF  JEREMIAH.  (SUPPOSED  TO  BE  GOLGOTHA.) 


are  now  all  broken.  The  whole  series  of  tombs  indicate  the  hand  of  roy¬ 
alty  and  the  leisure  of  years,  but  by  whom  and  for  whom  they  were  made 
is  a  mere  matter  of  conjecture.”  Their  careful  construction  proves  them 
to  have  been  the  burial  place  of  persons  of  high  rank,  and  they  are  greatly 
revered  by  the  Jews,  who,  from  a  very  early  period  have  called  them  the 
Cavern  of  Zedekiah,  or  the  Tomb  of  Kalba  Sabua,  a  rich  Jewish  noble  who 
lived  at  the  time  of  the  great  siege.  A  common  opinion  is  that  this  cata¬ 
comb  is  the  Tomb  of  Queen  Helena  of  Adiabene ,  which,  according  to  Jose¬ 
phus,  was  situated  here.  With  her  son  Izates,  she  was  converted  to 


560  THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 

Judaism  in  her  own  country,  and,  after  the  death  of  husband  Mambaz  in 
A.  D.  48,  resided  at  Jerusalem.  She  afterward  returned  home,  but  when 
she  died  her  body  was  brought  to  Jerusalem  and  buried  in  a  pyramidal 
tomb  three  stadia  from  the  city.  Izates  had  twenty-four  sons,  and  hence 
possibly  the  extent  of  the  tomb.  These  vaults  were  understood  to  be 
tombs  as  early  as  the  14th  century,  and  they  were  sometimes  referred  by 


JEREMIAH.  (JER.  i:  38-4  I.) 

tradition  to  the  early  kings  of  Judah,  whence  they  are  still  called  “Tombs 
of  the  Kings.” 

In  the  shallow  wady  of  the  Kidron,  a  little  north  of  the  Tombs  of  the 
Kings,  are  the  Tombs  of  Simon  the  Just  and  of  the  Sanhedrim.  “These 
curious  sepulchers,”  says  Dr.  Robinson,  “are  rarely  visited.  They  are  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Kidron,  a  short  distance  northeast  of  the  Tombs  of  the 
Kings,  and  under  the  cliffs  on  the  north  side  of  the  wady.  They  are  fre- 


TOMBS  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  JEHOSHAPHAT 


— 


— 


— 


THE  ENVIRONS  OE  JERUSALEM.  563 

quented  exclusively  by  the  Jews,  and  mostly  on  their  festival  days.  I 
once  entered  them  on  the  thirty-third  day  after  the  Passover — a  day  con¬ 
secrated  to  the  honor  of  Simon.  Many  Jews  were  there  with  their  chil¬ 
dren.  Like  all  other  sects  in  the  East,  they  make  vows  to  shave  off  the 
hair  from  their  own  and  their  children’s  heads  in  honor  of  some  saint  or 
shrine.  A  number  had  that  day  been  shorn,  the  hair  weighed,  and  a  sum 


LOOKING  DOWN  THE  VALLEY  OF  JEHOSHAPHAT.  ON  THE  LEFT  IS  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES,' 
ON  THE  RIGHT  THE  TEMPLE  MOUNT;  IN  THE  MIDDLE  ABSALOM’S  TOMB. 

of  money  distributed  to  the  poor  in  proportion  to  the  weight.  The  sur¬ 
rounding  fields  and  olive-orchards  were  crowded  with  gayly-dressed  and 
merry  Hebrews.  The  tombs  seemed  to  me  to  have  been  excavated  in 
what  were  originally  natural  caves.  The  entrance  to  all  of  them  was  very 
low,  and  without  ornament.  The  interior  was  spacious  and  gloomy  in  the 
extreme,  especially  that  which  was  said  to  have  contained  the  remains  of 
the  Sanhedrim.  There  were  between  sixty  and  seventy  niches  where 
bodies  may  have  been  placed;  and  from  that  number,  perhaps,  the  idea 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


564 

originated  that  they  were  the  crypts  of  the  seventy  men  of  the  great  syna¬ 
gogue.  Dr.  Wilson  seems  to  have  heard  of  these  tombs,  but  he  confounds 
them  with  those  of  the  Judges,  which  are  a  mile  or  more  to  the  northwest.” 

Nearly  southeast  from  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  not  far  from  the  north¬ 
ern  wall  of  the  city,  and  nearly  equally  distant  from  the  Damascus  Gate 
and  the  Gate  of  Herod,  is  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah,  a  spot  of  peculiar 
interest,  because  an  ingeniously  supported  theory  has  been  put  forward 
that  the  high  Tell  ez  Zahara ,  under  which  the  grotto  or  cave  is  situated, 
is  the  true  Mount  Calvary.  “The  yawning  cave  of  Jeremiah,”  says  Dr. 
Thomson,  “extends  under  the  cliff  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet;  and 
there  are  buildings,  graves  and  sacred  spots  arranged  irregularly  about  it, 
walled  off,  whitewashed  and  plastered.  Under  the  floor  of  the  cavern  are 
vast  cisterns.  Lighting  our  tapers,  we  descend  into  the  lowest  one.  The 
roof  is  supported  by  heavy  square  columns,  and  the  whole,  neatly  plas¬ 
tered,  is  now  used  as  a  cistern.  The  water  is  pure,  cold  and  sweet.  In 
any  other  part  of  the  world  it  would  be  considered  a  remarkable  work;  but 
here,  in  the  vicinity  of  such  excavations  as  undermine  the  whole  ridge 
within  the  city,  it  dwindles  into  insignificance.”  In  this  cave  it  is  said 
that  the  Prophet  Jeremiah  was  imprisoned  and  wrote  his  Lamentations, 
and  the  keepers  of  the  grotto  point  out  his  tomb  near  by;  but  it  is  certain 
that  the  prison  of  the  prophet  was  within  the  city  (Jer.  xxxviii),  and  it  is 
equally  certain  that  the  present  grotto  was  never  included  within  the  wall 
until  the  time  of  Herod  Agrippa,  six  centuries  later.  Of  the  burial-place 
of  Jeremiah  nothing  whatever  is  known,  nor  even  of  the  place  of  his  death. 
He  was  carried  captive  into  Egypt  (Jer.  xliii:  5-7),  and  in  all  probability 
died  there. 

The  theory  that  the  Tell  ez  Zahara  above  the  so-called  Grotto  of 
Jeremiah  is  the  true  Calvary  has  a  good  deal  of  plausibility.  The  tradi¬ 
tion  which  places  the  scene  of  the  Crucifixion  and  the.  Resurrection  under 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  dates  no  earlier  than  the  time  of  Con¬ 
stantine,  and  has  no  higher  authority  than  an  incredible  myth  which  has 
already  been  told  (p.  310).  Whether  that  spot  can  possibly  be  the  place 
of  our  Lord’s  death  and  burial  depends  upon  the  question  whether  it  was, 
or  was  not,  at  that  time  included  within  the  wall.  The  Saviour  was  cruci¬ 
fied  without  the  wall,  as  the  writer  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  distinctly 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


565 


affirms  (Heb.  xiii:  12);  and  the  same  fact  would  be  sufficiently  implied  by 
the  Evangelists,  even  if  we  did  not  know  that  the  Israelites  invariably 
had  their  sepulchres  outside  their  cities  (Matt.  xxvii:3i,  32;  xxviii:ii; 
Mark  xv :20,  21;  Luke  xxiii:26).  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is 
within  the  modern  wall,  and  the  weight  of  opinion  seems  steadily  to  incline 
to  a  conviction  that  it  must  have  been  within  the  wall  which  existed  in  the 
time  of  Christ.  The  probability  therefore  is  that,  wherever  Calvary  may 


ANCIENT  OLIVE  TREES. 


have  been,  it  cannot  have  been  the  place  indicated  by  ecclesiastical  tra¬ 
dition. 

Again,  the  place  of  crucifixion  bore  a  name  which  it  apparently  owed 
to  some  peculiarity  of  formation,  since  it  was  called  in  Greek  Kranion ,  A 
Skull  (Luke  xxiii:  33),  and  in  Hebrew  Golgotha ,  The  Place  of  a  Skull  (Matt. 
xxvii:33;  Mark  xv:  22;  Jolin  xix:  17).  There  is  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  Crucifixion  of  our  Saviour  was  at  the  usual  place  of  execution,  and 
it  has  often  been  explained  that  Golgotha  may  have  received  its  sinister 


566 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


designation  from  the  skulls  of  executed  criminals  left  to  bleach  on  its  unhal¬ 
lowed  side.  But  if  that  were  the  true  reason,  the  spot  would  have  been 
called  The  Place  of  Skulls ,  and  not  Kranion,  A  Skull,  or  The  Place  of  a 
Skull.  It  seems  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  form  of  Calvary 
itself  may  have  resembled  that  of  a  huge  skull,  and  in  that  case  the  name 
Kranion  or  Golgotha  would  have  had  a  double  appropriateness.  The  site 


MOUNT  OF  OLIVES,  FROM  THE  WALL. 


of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  which  is  lower  than  that  of  the  land 
immediately  around  it,  can  hardly  have  had  any  such  form. 

The  Tell  ez  Zahara  lies  without  the  northern  wall,  “nigh  unto  the 
city”  (John  xix:2o),  being  not  more  than  forty  rods  from  the  Damascus 
Gate,  and  its  outline,  seen  from  a  distance,  strikingly  resembles  that  of  a 
skull.  Moreover,  the  Jews,  following  a  very  ancient  tradition  of  the  Tal¬ 
mud,  call  it  the  Place  of  Stoning.  An  early  Christian  tradition  makes  it 
the  scene  of  the  stoning  of  St.  Stephen,  the  first  Christian  martyr,  and  the 
gate  which  is  now  called  Herod’s  Gate  was  formerly  called  St.  Stephen’s 
Gate,  though  the  name  was  transferred  at  a  later  time  to  another  gate  on 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM.  567 

the  east  side  of  the  city.  From  these  facts  it  seems  exceedingly  probable 
that  this  Tell  was  the  ancient  place  of  public  execution, 

Tell  ez  Zahara  thus  seems  to  have  probabilities  in  its  favor  which  are 
wholly  lacking  in  the  traditional  Calvary,  and  in  other  respects  it  well  con¬ 
forms  to  the  incidental  indications  of  the  Gospels.  Kranion  was  near  a 
thoroughfare  where  persons  were  constantly  passing,  since  “they  that 
passed  by”  reviling  and  railing  at  the  Crucified  Saviour,  were  clearly  not 


TOMB  OF  THE  VIRGIN. 


those  who  had  gone  to  see  the  Crucifixion,  but  chance  passengers  (Matt., 
xxvii:  39;  Mark  xv:  29).  It  was  also  an  object  so  conspicuous  as  to  be  seen 
“afar  off”  (Matt,  xxvii:  55 ;  Mark  xv:4o;  Luke  xxiii :  49) ;  and  in  its  neighbor¬ 
hood  were  tombs  and  gardens.  In  every  one  of  these  particulars  the  Tell 
above  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah  corresponds  with  the  Kranion  of  the  Gos¬ 
pels,  and  the  conjecture  that  it  is  the  true  Calvary,  first  made  by  an  Ameri¬ 
can  gentleman,  Mr.  Fisher  Howe,  has  gained  many  adherents,  such  as  Dr. 
Selah  Merril,  U.  S.  Consul  at  Jerusalem,  Dr.  Otto  Thenius  and  Capt. 
Conder. 


568 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


In  1881  it  was  found  that  a  Jewish  tomb  existed  on  a  smaller  knoll 
not  far  from  the  Tell  ez  Zahara,  and  in  the  Palestine  Quarterly  State¬ 
ment.  1883,  p.  76,  the  following  significant  observation  is  made:  “It  would 
be  bold  to  hazard  the  suggestion  that  this  single  Jewish  sepulchre,  thus 
found,  is  indeed  the  Tomb  in  the  Garden,  nigh  unto  the  place  called  Gol¬ 
gotha,  which  belonged  to  the  rich  Joseph  of  AiimathEea,  yet  its  appear¬ 
ance  so  near  the  old  place  of  execution  and  so  far  from  the  other  tombs  in 
the  old  cemeteries  of  the  city  is  extremely  remarkable.” 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  the  location  of  Calvary  is  not  a  matter  of 
supreme  importance;  nevertheless,  as  the  subject  is  interesting,  and  as  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Howe  seems  be  gaming  favor,  it  may  be  well  here  to 
quote  a  passage  in  which  the  facts  are  very  well  put  by  Dr.  Geikie. 

“There  is  little  in  the  New  Testament  to  fix  the  exact  position  of  the 
‘mount’  on  which  our  Lord  was  crucified,  though  the  statement  that  He 
‘suffered  without  the  gate’  (Heb.  xiii:  12)  is  enough  to  prove  that  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  not  on  the  true  site.  The  name  Gol¬ 
gotha,  ‘the  Place  of  a  Skull,’  may  well  have  referred  rather  to  the  shape 
of  the  ground  than  to  the  place  so  called  being  that  of  public  execution, 
and  if  this  be  so,  a  spot  reminding  one  of  a  skull  by  its  form  must  be 
sought,  outside  the  city.  It  must,  besides,  be  near  one  of  the  great  roads, 
for  those  who  were  ‘passing  by’  are  expressly  noticed  in  the  Gospels 
(Mark  xv :  29).  That  Joseph  of  Arimathsea  carried  the  body  to  his  own  new 
tomb,  hewn  out  in  the  rock,  and  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  garden,  outside 
the  city  (Matt,  xxvii:  60),  requires,  further,  that  Calvary  should  be  found 
near  the  great  Jewish  cemetery  of  the  time  of  our  Lord.  This  lay  on  the 
north  side  of  Jerusalem,  stretching  from  close  to  the  gates,  along  the 
different  ravines,  and  up  the  low  slopes  which  rise  on  all  sides.  The  sep¬ 
ulchre  of  Simon  the  Just,  dating  from  the  third  century  before  Christ,  is 
in  this  part,  and  so  also  is  the  noble  tomb  of  Helena,  Queen  of  Adiabene, 
hewn  out  in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  and  still  fitted  with  a  rolling  stone, 
to  close  its  entrance,  as  was  that  of  our  Lord.  Ancient  tombs  abound, 
moreover,  close  at  hand,  showing  themselves  amidst  the  low  hilly  ground 
wherever  we  turn  on  the  roadside.  Everything  thus  tends  to  show  that 
this  cemetery  was  that  which  was  in  use  in  the  days  of  our  Lord. 

“On  these  grounds  it  has  been  urged  with  much  force  that  Calvary 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM 


571 


must  be  sought  near  the  city,  but  outside  the  ancient  gate,  on  the  north 
approach,  close  to  a  main  road,  and  these  requirements  the  knoll  or  swell 
over  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah  remarkably  fulfills  (John  xx:  12).  Rising 
gently  toward  the  north,  its  slowly-rounded  top  might  easily  have  obtained 
from  its  shape,  the  name  of  ‘a  Skull,’  in  Latin,  Calvaria;  in  Aramaic,  Gol¬ 
gotha.  This  spot  has  been  associated  from  the  earliest  times  with  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen,  to  whom  a  church  was  dedicated  near  it  before 
the  fifth  century.  And  this,  as  Captain  Conder  shows,  is  fixed  by  local 


SKETCH  OF  THE  ROAD  FROM  ST.  STEPHEN’S  GATE  ACROSS  THE  VAT. LEY  AND  OVER 


THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 

tradition  at  the  spot  which  is  still  pointed  out  by  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem  as 
‘the  Place  of  Stoning,’  where  offenders  were  not  only  put  to  death,  but 
hung  up  by  the  hands  till  sunset,  after  execution.  As  if  to  make  the  iden¬ 
tification  still  more  complete,  the  busy  road  which  has  led  to  the  north  in 
all  ages  passes  close  by  the  knoll,  branching  off,  a  little  further  on,  to 
Gibeon,  Damascus  and  Ramah.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Romans  to 
crucify  transgressors  at  the  sides  of  the  busiest  public  roads,  and  thus,  as 


572 


THE  ENVIRONS  OE  JERUSALEM. 


we  have  seen,  they  treated  our  Saviour  when  they  subjected  Him  to  this 
most  shameful  of  deaths  (Luke  xxiii:  35).  Here  then,  apparently,  on  this 
bare  rounded  knoll,  rising  about  thirty  feet  above  the  road,  with  no  build¬ 
ing  on  it,  but  covered  in  part  with  Mahommedan  graves,  the  low  yellow 
cliff  of  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah  looking  out  from  its  southern  end,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world  appears  to  have  passed  away  with  that  great  cry 
which  has  been  held  to  betoken  cardiac  rupture — for  it  would  seem  that 
He  literally  died  of  a  broken  heart.  Before  Him  lay  outspread  the  guilty 
city  which  had  clamored  for  His  blood;  beyond  it,  the  pale  slopes  of 
Olivet,  from  which  He  was  shortly  to  ascend  in  trimuph  to  the  right  hand 
of  the  Majesty  on  High;  and  in  the  distance,  but  clear  and  seemingly  near, 
the  pinkish -yellow  mountains  of  Moab,  lighting  up,  it  may  be,  the  fading 
eyes  of  the  Innocent  One  with  the  remembrance  that  His  death  would  one 
day  bring  back  lost  mankind — not  Israel  alone — from  the  east,  and  the 
west,  and  the  north,  and  the  south,  to  the  kingdom  of  God.” 

The  tomb  in  which  our  Lord  was  buried  will  be,  perhaps,  forever 
unknown,  but  it  was  some  one  of  those,  we  may  be  sure,  still  found  in  the 
neighborhood  of  “the  Place  of  Stoning.”  Among  these,  one  has  been 
specially  noticed  by  Captain  Conder,  as  possibly  the  very  tomb  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathaea,  thus  greatly  honored.  It  is  cut  in  the  face  of  a  curious 
rock  platform,  measuring  seventy  paces  each  way,  and  situated  about  200 
yards  west  of  the  Grotto  of  Jeremiah.  The  platform  is  roughly  scarped 
on  all  sides,  apparently  by  human  art,  and  on  the  west  there  is  a  higher 
piece  of  rock,  the  sides  of  which  are  also  rudely  scarped.  The  rest  of  the 
space  is  fairly  level,  but  there  seem  to  be  traces  of  the  foundation  of  a 
surrounding  wall,  in  some  low  mounds  near  the  edge  of  the  platform.  In 
this  low  bank  of  rock  is  an  ancient  tomb,  rudely  cut,  with  its  entrance  to 
the  east.  The  doorway  is  much  broken,  and  there  is  a  loophole,  or  win¬ 
dow,  four  feet  wide,  on  both  sides  of  it.  An  outer  space,  seven  feet 
square,  has  been  cut  in  the  rock,  and  two  stones,  placed  in  this,  give  the 
idea  that  they  may  have  been  intended  to  hold  in  its  proper  position  a 
rolling  stone  with  which  the  tomb  was  closed.  On  the  north  is  a  side 
entrance,  leading  into  a  chamber,  with  a  single  stone  grave  cut  along  its 
side,  and  thence  into  a  cavern  about  eight  paces  square  and  ten  feet  high, 
with  a  well-mouth  in  its  roof. 


I 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM.  573 

Another  chamber,  within  this,  is  reached  by  a  descent  of  two  steps, 
and  measures  six  feet  by  nine.  On  each  side  of  it,  an  entrance,  twenty 
inches  broad,  and  about  five  and  a  half  feet  high,  has  been  opened  into 
another  chamber  beyond,  and  passages,  which  are  four  and  a  half  feet 
long,  having  a  ledge  or  bench  of  rock  at  the  side.  Two  bodies  could  thus 
be  laid  in  each  of  the  three  chambers,  which,  in  turn,  lead  to  two  other 
chambers  about  five  feet  square,  with  narrow  entrances.  Their  doors 


IN  THE  GARDEN  OF  GETHSEMANE. 

were  still  thinly  strewn  with  human  bones  when  Captain  Conder  explored 
them. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  a  group  of  Jewish  houses  is  growing  up  round 
the  spot.  The  rock  is  being  blasted  for  building-stone,  and  the  tomb,  un¬ 
less  special  measures  are  taken  for  its  preservation,  may  soon  be  entirely 
destroyed. 

Excursion  III.  Down  the  Kedron  Valley  to  Job’s  Well. 

The  course  of  the  Kedron  Valley  has  already  been  sufficiently  de- 


574 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


scribed  (pp.  2S9-90).  In  the  shallow  wady  north  of  the  city  there  are  few 
objects  ol  interest  but  tombs,  of  which  the  sepulchres  of  Simon  and  the 
Sanhedrim  are  the  most  important  (p.  560).  In  the  deep  ravine  be¬ 
tween  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  Jerusalem  are  scenes  of  unspeakable 
sacredness,  though  now  desecrated  and  vulgarized  by  the  painful  triviali¬ 
ties  of  cultivated  superstition. 


From  north  to  south  the  floor  of  the  Kidron  Valley  deepens  and 
contracts.  The  upper  part  is  planted  with  olive  trees;  the  lower  is  quite 


CHURCH  OF  THE  ASCENSION.  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 


uncultivated.  As  early  as  the  time  of  Christ  the  Kidron  was  called  the 
Winter  Brook,  and  at  the  present  day  the  upper  part  is  always  dry. 
Recent  explorations  have  ascertained  that  its  bed  in  ancient  times  lay 
about  30  feet  west  of  the  present  floor  of  the  valley.  The  eastern  slope 
of  the  Temple  Hill  is  now  deeply  covered  with  debris  and  must  formerly 
have  been  much  steeper  than  it  is  at  present.  The  Moslems  believe  that 
this  valley  is  to  be  the  place  of  final  judgment,  and  that  its  area  will  then 
be  miraculously  enlarged  so  that  all  men  shall  have  room  to  stand  within 
its  limits.  From  the  wall  of  the  Temple  area  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  a 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM 


575 


wire  rope  is  to  be  extended;  the  two  great  Judges,  Jesus  and  Mohammed, 
are  to  sit,  the  former  on  the  Temple  wall,  the  latter  on  the  Mount;  and  in 
their  presence  all  men  must  pass  over  the  valley  on  the  rope.  The 
righteous,  aided  by  their  guardian  angels,  will  cross  safely  over  with  the 
swiftness  of  lightning;  but  the  wicked  will  fall  headlong  into  the  pit  of  hell. 


Nearly  opposite  St.  Stephen’s  Gate  the  bed  of  the  Kidron  is  spanned 


THE  ASCENSION.  (ACTS  1:9.) 


by  a  bridge  of  a  single  arch,  and  on  the  left  of  the  road  (going  south)  is 
the  subterranean  Chapel  of  the  Tomb  of  the  Virgin,  where  the  Apostles 
are  supposed  to  have  laid  the  remains  of  the  Mother  of  Jesus,  and  where 
her  body  is  supposed  to  have  lain  until  her  fabled  assumption.  I  he  only 
part  of  this  curious  church  above  ground  is  the  porch,  and  to  the  open 
court  in  front  of  it  the  descent  is  made  by  three  flights  of  steps.  The 
portal  in  the  principal  facade  of  the  porch  has  a  beautiful  pointed  arch, 


576  THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 

into  which  a  wall  with  a  small  door  has  been  built.  Within  the  door  is  a 
handsome  flight  of  47  marble  steps,  19  feet  wide  at  the  top,  and  descend¬ 
ing  to  a  depth  of  35  feet  below  the  outer  court.  About  half-way  down  are 
two  side  chapels;  one  on  the  right,  containing  the  tombs  of  Joachim  and 
Anna,  the  parents  of  the  Virgin,  and  another  on  the  left,  containing  the 
tomb  of  Joseph.  There  is  a  third  vault  on  the  left  of  the  stairs  to  which, 
however,  no  tradition  is  attached.  At  the  foot  of  the  stair-way  we  enter 
the  chapel,  which  is  cruciform  and  brilliantly  lighted  with  lamps.  Its 
length  is  93  feet,  its  width  20  feet,  the  transept  from  end  to  end  is  about 
45  feet.  The  nave  lies  east  and  west.  Its  eastern  wing  is,  much  longer 
than  the  western,  and  has  a  window  above;  and  in  the  midst  of  it  is  the 
sarcophagus  of  the  Virgin.  In  different  places  are  the  altars  of  the 
Greeks,  the  Armenians  and  the  Abyssinians,  and  an  oratory  of  the 
Moslems. 

Returning  to  the  upper  fore-court,  we  observe  on  our  left  a  passage  lead¬ 
ing  to  a  cavern  which  is  called  the  Cave  or  Grotto  of  the  Agony,  and  is 
supposed  to  be  the  very  spot  in  which  Jesus  prayed  and  said,  “My  Father, 
if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me;  nevertheless,  not  as  I  will,  but 
as  Thou  wilt!”  This  is  a  genuine  grotto  in  the  solid  rock;  it  is  54  feet 
long,  2,7/4  wide,  and  .12  in  height;  the  ceiling  is  supported  partly  by  natural 
pillars  and  partly  by  masonry;  and  a  hole  in  the  ceiling  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  grotto  is  an  ancient  olive-press.  If  this  supposition  is  correct, 
then  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  we  are  here  in  the  very  olive-press 
which  gave  its  name  to  the  Garden  of  the  Olive  Press — Gethsemane ! 

Somewhere  in  this  vicinity  the  Garden  Gethsemane  must  have  been; 
and  high  authorities  affirm  that  the  enclosure  which  now  bears  that  name 
entirely  corresponds  with  the  accounts  of  the  Evangelists.  Any  spot  in 
that  part  of  the  Kedron  Valley  would  perhaps  answer  as  well;  and,  indeed, 
another  spot  than  this  is  claimed  to  be  the  true  place  of  our  Saviour’s  soli¬ 
tary  struggle.  We  need  not  spend  much  thought  on  such  questions.  It 
is  the  fact,  not  the  place  of  its  occurrence,  that  we  have  in  mind  when  we 
pray  “By  thine  Agony  and  Bloody  Sweat,  Good  Lord ,  deliver  us!" 

The  modern  Garden  of  Gethsemane  is  an  enclosure  of  a  rectangular 
form,  160  feet  long  and  about  150  wide,  which  is  now  surrounded  by  a 
hedge.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  Franciscan  monks,  and  is  kept  in  the 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


579 


trimmest  and  most  artificial  style.  The  ground  is  divided  into  beds  in 
which  roses,  pinks  and  other  flowers  are  cultivated,  and  the  attendant 
monk  is  careful  to  cull  a  nosegay  for  which  the  visitor  is  expected  to  pay 
him  one  franc.  There  are  also  cypresses  and  some  young  olive-trees;  but 
the  greatest  glory  of  the  garden  is  the  seven  venerable  olive  trees,  some  of 
which  are  nineteen  feet  in  circumference,  their  bark  burst  with  age,  and 


'lllHM'MUl'lWlM'Tl1 


Wmm 

Hips 

mf&iak 


TOMB  OF  ZACHARIAS 


their  trunks  so  bent  as  to  require  to  be  shored  up  with  stones.  One  would 
fain  believe  these  aged  trees  to  be  the  same  which  spread  their  boughs 
over  the  Son  of  Man.  That,  however,  cannot  be;  for  at  the  siege  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  by  Titus  every  tree  in  that  valley  was  cut  down.  A  thousand  years 
later,  when  the  Crusaders  took  possession  of  Jerusalem,  they  found  no 
trees  in  the  Kedron  Valley,  and  it  was  not  before  the  sixteenth  century 
that  the  ancient  trees  of  Gethsemane  began  to  be  mentioned.  For  all 


580 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


I 


that,  these  trees  are  very  likely  lineal  though  remote  descendants  of  those 
which  grew  there  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  certain  it  is  that  they  are 
utterly  unlike  all  other  trees  of  the  same  species  which  are  seen  elsewhere  on 

the  Mount  of  Olives.  Dean  Stan¬ 
ley  says  that,  “in  spite  of  all  the 
doubts  that  can  be  raised  against 
their  antiquity  or  the  genuine¬ 
ness  of  their  site,  these  ancient 
olive  trees,  if  only  by  their  mani¬ 
fest  difference  from  all  others  on 
the  mountains,  have  always  struck 
even  the  most  indifferent  ob¬ 
servers.  They  are  now,  indeed, 
less  striking  in  the  modern  garden 
enclosure  built  round  them  by 
the  Franciscan  monks  than  when 
they  stood  free  and  unprotected 
on  the  mountain  side;  but  they 
will  remain  so  long  as  their  al¬ 
ready  protracted  life  is  spared* 
the  most  venerable  of  their  race 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth; 
their  gnarled  trunks  and  scanty 
foliage  will  always  be  regarded 
as  the  most  affecting  of  the 
sacred  memorials  in  or  about 
Jerusalem;  the  most  nearly  ap¬ 
proaching  to  the  everlasting  hills 
themselves  in  the  force  with  which  they  carry  us  back  to  the  events  of 
the  Gospel  history.” 

The  Garden  of  Gethsemane  is  entered  from  the  eastern  side,  that  is 
the  side  next  to  the  Mount  of  Olives.  A  rock  immediately  east  of  the  gate 
is  said  to  mark  the  spot  where  the  disciples,  Peter  and  James  and  John, 
slept  during  their  Master’s  agony.  Some  ten  or  twelve  paces  to  the  south 
of  that  spot,  and,  of  course,  without  the  inclosure,  the  fragment  of  a  pillar 


gggis^g 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM.  581 

indicates  the  place  where  Judas  betrayed  Jesus  with  a  kiss.  At  one  time, 
the  garden  was  of  much  greater  extent  that  at  the  present,  and  contained 


several  churches  and  chapels  which  have  now  long  disappeared.  The 
place  of  the  betrayal  was  then  located  in  the  Grotto  of  the  Agony,  and  the 


THE  JAFFA  GATE — INTERIOR. 


582 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 

traditions  of  the  spot  have  greatly  varied.  T  he  oil  made  from  the  olives 
of  Gethsemane  is  sold  at  a  high  price,  and  rosaries  made  from  the  olive 
stones  are  in  great  request. 

I  rom  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  there  are  three  roads  to  the  summit 
ol  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  half-way  up  the  middle  path,  which  is  also  the 
steepest,  is  a  xuin  on  the  spot  where  Jesus,  “when  He  was  come  near, 
beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it  (Luke  xix:  41).  This  spot  is  venerated 

even  by  the  Moslems,  who  built  a  mosque  in  honor  of  it;  but  the  building 
is  now  a  deserted  ruin. 

At  or  near  that  same  spot  undoubtedly  is  the  place  where  Jesus  pre 
dieted  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  on  the  Tuesday  of  the  week  in  which 
He  suffered.  On  that  day  He  had  sat  teaching  in  the  Court  of  Israel,  near 
the  treasury  (Mark  xii:  41),  and  just  before  He  left  the  Temple,  He  saw 
and  commended  the  faith  of  the  poor  widow  who,  of  her  penury,  cast  in 
the  two  mites,  which  were  all  the  living  that  she  had  (Mark  xii :  41-44; 
Luke  xxi:  i-4).  Then  He  quitted  the  Temple,  passing  the  gate  through  the 
massive  wall  which  surrounded  the  sacred  enclosure.  “As  He  went  out  of 
the  Temple,  one  of  his  disciples”  used  an  expression  of  admiration  at  the 
immense  “stones  and  buildings”  of  the  splendid  structure,  and  in  answer 
received  a  brief  prophecy  that  not  one  stone  of  all  the  edifice  should  be 
left  upon  another.  In  going  out  they  would  be  surrounded  by  a  throng  of 
people  and  there  would  be  little  opportunity  for  further  conversation;  but 
in  returning  to  Bethany,  Jesus  did  not  take  the  easier,  if  longer,  road 
round  the  Mount  of  Olives,  but  the  shorter  and  steeper  path  directly  up 
the  west  side  of  the  Mount.  Half-way  up  they  rested  and  sat  down  facing 
Jerusalem  “over  against  the  Temple”  (Mark  xiii:  3),  and  it  was  then  that 
He  delivered  the  long  discourse  of  warning  and  instruction  which  is  recorded 
in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Mark.  Any  one  who  will  compare  the  account 
given  by  St.  Luke  of  the  action  and  discourse  of  our  Saviour  on  that  day 
with  the  circumstantial  exactness  of  time  and  place  exhibited  by  St.  Mark, 
will  surely  perceive  that  while  St.  Luke  was  a  faithful  reporter  of  what  he 
heard  from  others,  he  had  nothing  of  that  precision  of  detail  which  belongs 
to  an  original  witness.  That  exactness  and  precision  St.  Mark  has;  not,  of 
course,  because  he  was  an  immediate  witness  (though  he  may  have  been 
so)  of  the  things  which  he  relates,  but  because,  according  to  the  universal 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


583 


tradition  of  the  Church,  he  was  merely  the  secretary  or  amanuensis  of  the 
Apostle  Peter  from  whom  he  learned  the  facts  which  he  narrates.  Only 
an  eye-witness  and  ear-witness  could  have  written  or  dictated  the  account 
of  our  Saviour’s  words  and  acts  on  that  last  Tuesday  of  his  earthly  life  as  we 
find  them  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark;  and  he  who  stands  by  the 
ruined  mosque  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  may  be  sure  that 
he  is  not  far  from  the  very  spot  on  which  our  Saviour  charged  his  followers 
in  every  age  to  “Watch!” 

If  we  proceed  to  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  we  find  there  a 
village,  Kefr  et-Tur,  which  is  not  visible  from  Jerusalem,  and  within  the 
court  of  a  mosque,  the  minaret  of 
which  is  ascended  by  all  travelers  for 
the  sake  of  the  superb  view  over  Je¬ 
rusalem  and  the  Dead  Sea,  we  find  a 
small  octagon  chapel,  where  a  shape¬ 
less  depression  in  the  rock  is  pointed 
out  as  the  last  footstep  of  Christ  on 
earth  before  His  ascension  into  heaven. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  inherent  ab¬ 
surdity  of  such  a  sign,  it  seems  to  be 
almost  incredible  that  the  crest  of 
Olivet  should  have  been  taken  for  the 
place  of  the  Ascension  in  face  of  the 
express  statement  of  St.  Luke  that 
our  Saviour,  before  parting  from  His 
disciples,  “led  them  out  as  far  as  to 
Bethany”  (Luke  xxiv:  50),  that  is  to 

say,  beyond  the  crest  of  Olivet  and  zion  gate. 

some  way  down  the  eastern  side.  Originally  there  was  no  intention  to 
commit  so  glaring  a  blander.  The  Empress  Helena  built  two  churches  in 
Palestine,  one  at  Bethlehem  in  honor  of  the  Nativity,  and  another  on  the 
top  of  a  hill  near  Jerusalem  in  memory  of  the  Ascension.  The  latter  was 
probably  on  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  being  called  the 
Church  of  the  Ascension,  it  was  speedily  supposed  to  be  erected  on  the 
place  of  the  Ascension.  Other  sacred  buildings  clustered  around  it.  Con- 


584 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


stantine  built  a  roofless  basilica;  in  the  sixth  century  many  monasteries  had 
been  added;  the  Crusaders  erected  “a  small  tower  with  columns  in  the 
center  of  a  court  paved  with  marble,  and  the  principal  altar  stood  on  the 
rock  within.”  In  1130  a  large  church  rose  over  the  spot,  having  in  the 
center  a  broad  depression  marking  the  scene  of  the  Ascension,  below  which 
was  a  chapel.  After  the  time  of  Saladin  the  chapel  was  inclosed  by  an 
octagonal  wall.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  church  was  completely 
destroyed;  in  the  seventeenth  the  Moslems  restored  the  interior  of  the 
chapel;  and  in  1834 — 1835  it  was  rebuilt  on  the  former  ground-plan. 

The  entrance  is  through  a  door  by  the  minaret  on  the  west  side,  where 
a  handsome  portal  admits  the  visitor  to  a  court  in  the  center  of  which  rises 
a  small  chapel  of  irregular  octagonal  form  and  about  twenty  feet  in  diam¬ 
eter.  In  the  middle  of  the  chapel  is  a  cylindrical  drum  with  a  small  dome 
over  the  spot  from  which  our  Saviour  is  said  to  have  ascended.  It  belongs 
to  the  Moslems,  who  regard  it  with  veneration,  but  on  certain  days  Chris¬ 
tians  are  permitted  to  use  it  as  an  altar  for  the  celebration  of  the 
mass.  In  an  oblong  marble  enclosure  is  shown  the  foot-print  of  Christ  in 
the  rock. 

Quitting  this  spot  where  an  idle  and  superstitious  tradition  makes 
void  an  express  statement  of  Holy  Scripture,  we  enter  an  adjacent 
mosque  occupied  by  a  community  of  dervishes,  and  standing  on  the  site 
of  a  former  Augustinian  monastery.  On  ascending  the  minaret  a  mag¬ 
nificent  panorama  is  spread  out  before  us.  Below,  on  the  west,  lies 
Jerusalem  with  the  Haram  enclosure,  like  a  vast  park,  dotted  with  ora¬ 
tories,  and  surmounted  by  the  glorious  dome  of  the  Mosque  of  Omar. 
The  physical  conformation  of  the  city  appears  as  it  never  can  from  any 
other  point.  The  impregnable  position  of  the  Temple  Mount  is  manifest. 
The  hollow  of  the  Tyropeon  between  the  Temple  hill  and  the  upper  part 
of  the  town,  though  now  filled  with  rubbish,  is  plainly  distinguishable. 
The  relative  position  and  the  different  heights  of  Mount  Zion.  Mount 
Moriah,  Acra,  Bezetha  and  Ophel  are  perceived  at  a  glance.  Beyond  the 
north  wall  we  can  trace  the  course  of  the  upper  Valley  of  the  Kidron,  rich 
with  verdure  in  the  spring  time,  and  behind  it  Scopus,  whence  the  Roman 
looked  down  on  the  city  he  was  shortly  to  destroy,  confessing  that  its 
beauty  might  avail  to  “move  the  majesty  of  Rome  to  mercy.”  Looking 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM 


585 


to  the  south  the  opprobrious  Mount  of  Offence  is  close  at  hand,  and 
beyond  it  we  can  scan  the  southward  course  of  the  Kidron  Valley.  A  few 
miles  off  are  Tekoah,  and  the  Frank  Mountain,  and  the  hills  of  Bethlehem, 


PART  OF  THE  SOUTH  WALL. 


though  Bethlehem  itself  is  concealed  from  view.  Everywhere  the  clear¬ 
ness  of  the  atmosphere  deceives  the  eye,  and  the  Dead  Sea,  lying  thirteen 
miles  off  and  not  less  than  3,000  feet  below  our  point  of  view,  seems  near 
at  hand  and  not  many  hundred  feet  below.  Beyond  the  deep  chasm  in 


586 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


which  its  blue  and  glass-like  surface  lies  are  the  mountains  of  Moab,  and 
north  of  them  is  Gilead,  along  the  base  of  which  the  Jordan  Ghor  appears 
as  a  green  line  on  a  whitish  ground.  Gazing  on  this  majestic  panorama 
one  can  almost  pardon  the  poetic  superstition  which  imagines  this  place 
to  be  the  place  of  the  Ascension. 

Taking  the  southern  path  down  the  mountain,  passing  the  spots 
where  silly  traditions  affirm  that  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  first  taught  and 
the  Apostle’s  Creed  was  composed,  we  find  ourselves  opposite  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  Haram  at  the  so-called  Tomb  of  the  Prophets. 
This  curious  and  undoubtedly  ancient  Jewish  sepulchre  is  peculiarly 
interesting  on  account  of  an  early  tradition,  the  truth  of  which  Eusebius 
emphatically  maintains,  that  our  Lord  initiated  His  disciples  in  His  secret 
mysteries  in  a  cave,  and  that  it  was  in  honor  of  that  cave,  which  Constan¬ 
tine  himself  adorned,  that  Helena  built  her  Church  of  the  Ascension. 
“The  cave  to  which  Eusebius  refers,”  says  Dean  Stanley,  “must  almost 
certainly  be  the  same  as  that  singular  catacomb,  a  short  distance  below 
the  third  summit  of  Olivet,  commonly  called  the  Tomb  of  the  Prophets. 
It  is  clear  from  the  language  of  Eusebius  that  the  traditional  spot  which 
Helena  meant  to  honor  was  not  the  scene  of  the  Ascension  itself,  but  the 
scene  of  the  conversations  before  the  Ascension,  and  the  cave  in  which 
they  were  believed  to  have  occurred.  Had  this  been  perceived,  much 
useless  controversy  might  have  been  spared.”  No  Hebrew  tradition  con¬ 
nects  this  remarkable  sepulchre  with  the  ancient  Prophets  of  Israel;  but 
as  early  as  the  seventh  century  four  stone  tables  were  shown  there  at 
which  it  was  said  that  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  sat,  and  a  church  was 
erected  there  to  commemorate  the  Betrayal.  The  spot  was  abandoned 
and  forgotten,  and  remained  unnoticed  until  the  seventeenth  century, 
when  it  was  observed  by  travellers  and  assumed  its  present  name. 

The  entrance  to  the  Tomb  of  the  Prophets  is  insignificant,  and  leads 
into  a  rotunda,  lighted  from  above,  from  which  three  passages,  thirteen  to 
nineteen  yards  long,  extend  and  intersect  two  semicircular  transverse 
passages.  The  wall  of  the  outer  semicircle  contains  about  twenty-four 
shaft  tombs.  The  rough  way  in  which  the  chambers  are  hewn  points  to 
a  very  early  origin  of  these  tombs,  and  the  form  of  the  receptacles  for  the 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  TOMB  OF  THE  KINGS 


-  - 


- 


■J 


' 


.  . 


-  3 

.* 

- 


I!  ^ 


mm 


* 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM.  589 

dead  proves  them  to  be  of  the  Jewish  period.  By  the  modern  Jews  they 
are  regarded  with  the  greatest  veneration. 

Returning  to  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  taking  the  path  down 
the  valley,  we  soon  come  to  the  Jewish  burying  ground  and  pass  by  four 
remarkable  tombs.  The  first  is  the  supposed  Tomb  of  Jehoshaphat  from 
whom  the  valley  takes  one  of  its  names.  It  is  cut  into  the  face  of  the 


SOUTHEAST  ANGLE  OF  THE  HARAM,  AND  THE  DESCENT  OF  MT.  OPHEL. 

perpendicular  rock  and  has  an  ornamental  portal;  but  the  sepulchre  is 
wholly  underground  and  is  not  architecturally  remarkable. 

Close  by,  on  the  southwest  of  the  Tomb  of  Jehoshaphat,  is  the  Tomb 
of  Absalom,  by  far  the  most  striking  object  in  the  valley,  hewn  out  of  the 
native  rock,  which  has  simply  been  cut  away  from  three  sides,  so  as  to 
leave  a  solid  body  twenty-two  feet  square  and  twenty  feet  high.  As  the 
base  is  embedded  in  rubbish  which  even  covers  the  entrance,  the  true 
heighth  of  the  block  must  be  considerably  greater.  The  huge  monolith  has 
been  partly  hollowed,  and  the  entrance  through  a  hole  on  the  north  side  leads 
to  an  empty  chamber  eight  feet  square,  with  tenantless  shelf-graves  cut  in 


590 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


the  rock  on  two  sides.  The  exterior  is  ornamented  with  Ionic  pillars  and  an 
architrave;  above  the  monolith  is  a  circular  attic  of  large  hewn  stones;  and 
the  structure  is  finished  to  a  total  height  of  forty-seven  feet  with  a  small 
dome  running  up  into  a  low  spire,  which  spreads  a  little  at  the  top,  like  an 
opening  flower.  Of  the  history  of  this  striking  monument  there  is  no  cer¬ 
tainty,  but  the  Jews  believe  it  to  be  the  pillar  which  Absalom  reared  in  the 
King’s  Dale  (2  Sam.  xviii:  18).  Jewish  children  have  been  seen  casting 
stones  at  it  and  cursing  the  memory  of  the  disobedient  and  treacherous 
Absalom. 

Some  two  hundred  feet  south  of  this  is  the  Tomb  of  St.  James,  which 
has  a  porch  eighteen  feet  by  nine  fronting  the  west,  ornamented  with  two 
columns  and  two  half-columns  of  the  Doric  order.  The  entrance,  how¬ 
ever,  is  not  through  the  porch,  but  by  a  passage  cut  through  the  rock  from 
the  south,  and  leading  to  a  cave  which  extends  forty  or  fifty  feet  back  into 
the  mountain.  A  tradition  dating  from  the  sixth  century  assures  us  that 
in  this  grotto  St.  James  lay  concealed  and  fasting  from  the  hour  of  Christ's 
death  until  after  his  resurrection.  The  tradition  that  he  was  buried  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives  is  not  older  than  the  sixteenth  century.  The  grotto  was 
formerly  occupied  by  monkish  preachers;  it  now  sometimes  serves  as  a 
sheepfold. 

The  fourth  tomb,  immediately  south  of  the  Tomb  of  St.  James,  is  the 
monolith  of  Zechariah,  a  cubical  block  measuring  seventeen  feet  each  way, 
without  masonwork,  but  hewn,  like  the  lower  part  of  the  Tomb  of  Absa¬ 
lom,  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  surmounted  by  a  flattened  pyramid  of 
twelve  feet  elevation.  The  entire  height  is  nearly  thirty  feet,  and  there 
is  no  entrance.  Each  of  the  sides  has  two  columns  and  two  half-columns 
of  the  Ionic  order.  According  to  the  Jews,  by  whom  it  is  held  in  great 
veneration,  this  monument  is  the  tomb  of  Zechariah,  the  priest  mentioned 
in  2  Chron.  xxiv:  20,  21,  and  the  same  to  whom  our  Saviour  referred  in 
His  scathing  denunciation  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees:  “Woe  unto  you, 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  Ye  build  the  tombs  of  the  prophets, 
and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous,  and  say,  If  we  had  been  in 
the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  would  not  have  been  partakers  with  them  in 
the  blood  of  the  prophets.  Wherefore  ye  be  witnesses  unto  yourselves 
that  ye  are  the  children  of  them  which  slew  the  prophets.  Behold  I  send 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM 


59i 


unto  you  prophets  and  wise  men,  and  scribes;  and  some  of  them  ye  shall 
kill  and  crucify;  and  some  of  them  ye  shall  scourge  in  your  synagogues, 
and  persecute  them  from  city  to  city;  that  upon  you  may  come  all  the 
righteous  blood  shed  upon  earth,  from  the  blood  of  righteous  Abel  unto 


mMi  gggj 


THE  GOLDEN  GATE 


the  blood  of  Zacharias,  son  of  Barachias,  whom  ye  slew  between  the  tem¬ 
ple  and  the  altar”  (Matt,  xxiii:  29,  30,  34,  35). 

A  hundred  yards  below  these  venerable  tombs  our  path  down  the  valley 
turns  somewhat  to  the  west  of  south,  in  a  direction  parallel  with  the  base 
of  Ophel,  until  we  come  to  the  Virgin’s  Spring  (p.  327).  Thence,  as  we 


592 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


proceed  midway  between  Ophel  and  the  Mount  of  Offence,  we  have  the 
village  of  Silwan  on  our  left  skirting  the  base  of  the  latter,  until  we  come 
to  the  Pool  of  Siloam  at  the  foot  of  Ophel  (p.  326),  three  hundred  yards 
above  Job’s  Well. 

Excursion  IV.  Around  the  walls. 

As  the  traveler  approaches  Jerusalem  from  the  west,  he  has  the  whole 
west  wall  of  the  city  behind  him,  extending  north  and  south  above  the 
Gihon  Valley.  At  the  northwest  angle  are  remains  of  an  ancient  tower, 
called  Kulat  el-Jalud ,  the  Castle  of  Goliath,  which  Mr.  Ferguson  maintains 
is  the  Hippicus  of  Josephus.  The  entrance  to  the  Holy  City  is  by  the 
Jaffa  Gate,  which  the  Arabs  call  Bab  el- Khalil,  that  is,  the  Hebron  Gate. 
It  is  a  busy  place;  sentinels  and  custom-house  officers  are  always  on  guard, 
and  the  open  space  within  the  gate  is  used  as  a  market-place  in  which 
peasants  dispose  of  fruits,  vegetables  and  other  country  products.  “This 
open  space  probably  represents  the  ‘market-place’  mentioned  by  Josephus 
as  being  situated  on  the  western  hill,  prior  to  the  capture  of  the  city  by  the 
Romans;  and  here  the  wholesale  fruit  and  vegetable  market  is  now  held 
every  day  soon  after  sunrise.  Dusky  women  of  Bethany  and  Siloam,  in 
long  blue  or  white  gowns,  with  bright  colored  kerchiefs  tied  round  their 
heads,  bring  large  baskets  full  of  cucumbers,  tomatoes  and  onions,  and 
other  garden  produce,  while  from  more  distant  villages,  especially  Bethle¬ 
hem  and  Urtas,  troops  of  donkeys  come  laden  with  enormous  cauliflowers 
and  turnips,  guided  by  boys  in  white  shirts  girdled  with  broad  red  leather 
belts.  The  pleasant-looking  Bethlehem  women,  wearing  crimson  and 
yellow  striped  or  blue  gowns  with  long  white  linen  veils,  carry  on  their 
heads  baskets  of  grapes,  figs,  prickly  pears,  pomegranates,  and  apricots,  or 
whatever  fruit  is  in  season.  Sometimes  this  market-place  is  almost 
blocked  up  with  the  piles  of  melons,  or  with  oranges  and  lemons  from 
Jaffa,  and  in  the  early  summer  time  roses  are  sold  here  by  weight  to  the 
makers  of  conserves  and  attar  of  roses.  Hotel-keepers  and  servants  from 
the  various  convents  come  here  to  make  their  bargains,  and  turbaned  green¬ 
grocers  and  itinerant  vendors  of  fruit  come  to  buy  their  stock  for  the  day. 
Soon  the  place  is  crowded,  and  the  bustle  of  buying  and  selling  begins. 
No  purchase  is  effected  without  a  considerable  amount  of  contention.  The 
seller  does  not  usually  price  the  goods,  but  waits  for  an  offer.  The  first 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


593 


offer  is  always  absurdedly  low.  The  seller  then  names  an  exorbitantly  high 
price.  For  instance,  a  dignified-looking  shopkeeper,  wearing  a  white  tur¬ 
ban,  will  offer  three  piastres  for  a  large  basket-full  of  tomatoes.  The  girl 
in  charge  answers  indignantly,  ‘I  will  carry  my  tomatoes  back  to  Siloam 
rather  than  take  less  than  fifteen!’ — ‘O  thou  most  greedy  of  the  greedy,  I 
will  give  no  more  than  six!’ — lO  possessor  of  a  tightly  closed  hand,  I  will 
not  take  less  than  twelve!  How  shall  I  buy  the  rice  for  my  mother  if  I 
give  away  the  fruits  of  her  garden?’  Finally  she  obtains  seven  and  a  half 
piastres  for  her  tomatoes,  and  goes  away 
perfectly  satisfied,  having  argued  with 
pertinacity  for  the  half  piastre.” 

On  the  right  of  the  Jaffa  Gate  is  the 
Citadel,  which  has  already  been  described 
(p.  305),  and  adjoining  the  Citadel  on  the 
south  is  the  infantry  barracks.  “Within 
the  citadel  there  is  ruin  and  rubbish  every¬ 
where;  without,  in  the  moat,  soldiers’ 
gardens,  beds  of  cactus  or  prickly  pear, 
and  filth  of  every  possible  description;  and 
on  the  ramparts  a  few  old  cannon,  much 
dreaded  by  the  artillerymen  who  have  to 
fire  them.  The  view  from  the  top  of 
David’s  Tower  is  extensive,  embracing 
the  whole  town,  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the 
Dead  Sea  and  the  mountains  of  Moab — a  pleasant  sight  to  feast  the  eyes 
upon  for  half  an  hour  before  the  sun  goes  down.” 

From  the  barracks  the  wall  runs  due  south  to  the  southwest  angle, 
within  which  is  the  garden  of  the  Armenian  monastery.  There  the  south 
wall  begins.  For  two  hundred  yards  it  runs  due  east,  and  then  inclines 
irregularly  to  the  north  of  east,  following  the  natural  conformation  of  Zion, 
until  it  crosses  the  Tyropeon  to  a  point  on  Ophel  situated  about  ninety 
yards  south  of  the  Haram.  At  that  point  it  turns  directly  north  for  ninety 
yards  and  joins  the  south  wall  of  the  Haram  one  hundred  yards  from  its 
southwest  angle,  and  two  hundred  yards  from  its  southeast  angle,  which  is 
also  the  southeast  angle  of  the  city. 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  GOLDEN  GATE. 


594 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


In  the  south  wall  there  are  two  open  gates,  Bab  en-Neby  Dand  or  the 
Gate  of  the  Prophet  David ,  commonly  called  Zion  Gate ,  which  is  about  one 
hundred  yards  from  the  southwest  angle  of  the  city;  and  Bab  el- Mugliari- 
beh ,  or  the  Gate  of  the  Moors ,  commonly  called  the  Dung  Gate ,  at  the 
Tyropeon. 

Zion  Gate  is  simply  an  arch  in  the  wall  filled  in  with  stones  so  as  to 

leave  space  for  a 
moderate-sized  two¬ 
leaved  door.  The 
wall,  however,  is 
very  thick.  Within 
the  north  side  of  the 
gate  is  a  row  of 
hovels  formerly  oc¬ 
cupied  by  lepers. 
Suffering  from  a 
hopeless  disease, 
and  dependent  on 
charity  for  daily, 
bread,  these  poor 
creatures  lived  to¬ 
gether  under  a 
sheikh  of  their  own 
unfortunate  class, 
with  exemplary 
cheerfulness  and 
good  humor.  Their 
appeals  for  alms 
which  they  made 
without  rising  from 
their  seats,  was  sel¬ 
dom  disregarded, 
and  the  backsheesh  of  the  passenger  was  received  in  tin  vessels  on  the 
ground  beside  them. 

The  Dung  Gate  in  the  bed  of  the  Tyropeon  is  a  small  and  entirely 


INTERIOR  OF  ST.  STEPHEN  S  GATE. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


595 


modern  entrance  with  no  architectural  pretensions  whatever.  It  is  sup¬ 
posed,  however,  to  be  fairly  representative  of  the  gate  of  the  same  name 
mentioned  by  Nehemiah  (Neh.  iii:  13;  xii  131). 

In  the  south  wall  of  the  Haram  Area  there  are  three  closed  gates.  Of 
these  the  Double  Gate  is  the  most  westerly,  and  is  undoubtedly  a  relic  of 
the  Temple  of  Herod.  It  has  two  entrances,  now  closed,  each  eighteen 
feet  wide,  whence  there  was  formerly  a  vaulted  passage  ascending  to  the 
Temple  Mount.  Over  the  former  openings  are  two  ornamental  arches,  not 
belonging  to  the  structure,  but  fastened  to  it  with  iron  clamps;  and  above 
them  are  heavy  lintels,  cracked  by  the  weight  of  the  masonry  above,  and 
now  supported  by  columns.  Next  is  the  Triple  Gate ,  with  three  openings 
now  closed  by  a  slight  wall,  which  formerly  gave  entrance  to  three  parallel 
passages  now  choked  with  rubbish.  Furthest  east  is  the  Single  Gate ,  of 
comparatively  modern  date,  which  led  into  the  subterranean  vaults  called 
Solomon’s  Stables. 

The  East  Wall  runs  directly  north,  and  in  that  part  of  it  which  in¬ 
closes  the  Haram  there  is  a  closed  gate  called  the  Golden  Gate.  The  Arabs 
call  it  Bab  ed-Daheriyeh,  or  the  Eternal  Gate ;  also,  Bab  et-Tobeh,  or  the 
Gate  of  Repentance;  and  Bab er-Rameh,  or  the  Gate  of  Mercy.  The  Mos¬ 
lems  have  a  traditional  prophecy  that  on  some  fore-doomed  Friday  (the 
Moslem  Sabbath), when  the  faithful  are  engaged  in  prayer,  a  Christian  con¬ 
queror  is  to  enter  Jerusalem  through  this  gate  and  take  possession  of  the 
city.  From  a  mistaken  supposition  that  this  is  the  Beautiful  Gate  (of  the 
inner  court)  of  the  Temple  mentioned  in  Acts  iii:  2,  the  Greeks  called  it 
Tliyra  Horaia ,  that  is,  the  Beautiful  Gate.  By  a  second  and  curious  mis¬ 
take  the  Latins  mistook  Horaia  (Beautiful)  for  Aurea  (Golden),  whence 
the  usual  Christian  name  of  The  Golden  Gate.  In  its  present  form  it 
probably  dated  from  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era;  but  its  resem¬ 
blance  to  the  Double  Gate  on  the  south  side  is  remarkable,  and  may  sug¬ 
gest  that  it  is  the  successor  of  the  Gate  Shushan  of  the  Herodian  Temple 
mentioned  in  the  Talmud.  In  the  time  of  the  Crusades  the  Golden  Gate 
used  to  be  opened  for  a  few  hours  on  Palm  Sunday  and  on  the  Festival  of 
the  Raising  of  the  Cross.  On  Palm  Sunday  a  great  procession  took  place 
in  honor  of  the  Saviour’s  triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem,  and  the  people 
strewed  palm  branches  in  the  way  of  the  Patriarch,  as  he  entered  the  City 
by  the  Golden  Gate. 


596  THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 

just  above  Birket  Israil,  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  is  Bab  el-Asbat  or  the 
Gate  of  the  Tribes ,  which  is  also  called  by  the  Arabs  Bab  Sitti  Mariam  or 
the  Gate  of  the  Lady  Mary ,  but  which  Christians  call  St.  Stephens  Gate. 
Like  most  of  the  gates  of  Jerusalem  it  is  situated  in  an  angle.  The  doors 
are  mounted  with  iron.  Over  the  entrance  are  two  lions  in  half-relief  hewn 
in  stone.  In  the  guard-room  within  a  “foot-print  of  Christ”  is  shown. 

In  the  north  wall  are  two  gates,  the  so-called  Gate  of  Herod ,  quarter 

of  a  mile  from  the  northeast 
angle,  and  the  Damascus 
Gate ,  about  midway  be¬ 
tween  the  east  and  west 
ends  of  the  wall.  Herod’s 
Gate,  which  the  Arabs  call 
Bab  ez-Zahiri  or  the  Gate 
of  Flowers ,  was  formerly 
called  St.  Stephens  Gate, 
and  a  church  dedicated  to 
St.  Stephen  was  erected 
near  by  to  commemorate 
the  death  of  the  first  mar¬ 
tyr  and  mark  the  place 
where  he  was  stoned,  The 
church  has  wholly  disap¬ 
peared  and  the  name  of  St. 
Stephen  was  long  ago  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  Bab  Sitti 
Mariam. 

By  far  the  handsomest 
gate  of  Jerusalem  is  Bab  el-Amud,  or  the  Gate  of  the  Columns,  com¬ 
monly  called  the  Damascus  Gate.  It  is  built  in  an  irregular  angular 
form  and  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  architecture  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Properly  speaking,  it  consists  of  two  gate-towers,  and  it  takes  its  name 
of  Bab  el-Amud  from  the  slender  columns  on  either  side  which  support 
a  pointed  gable.  An  inscription  on  the  gable  records  that  the  gate  was 
built  by  Soliman  in  the  year  944  of  the  Hegira;  but  excavations  have 
ascertained  that  it  stands  on  the  site  of  a  more  ancient  gate. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  JERUSALEM. 


597 


About  one  hundred  yards  east  of  the  Damascus  Gate  is  the  entrance 
to  a  cave  or  grotto,  called  the  Cotton  Grotto ,  of  vast  size  and  of  great 
antiquity,  which  extends  to  a  distance  of  650  feet  under  the  streets  and 
houses  of  Bezetha,  sloping  from  the  entrance  to  a  depth  of  more  than  one 
hundred  feet.  Strange  to  say,  this  excavation  was  not  discovered  until 
1852,  and  its  history  is  quite  unknown.  It  is  evidently  an  ancient  quarry. 
“You  still  see  clearly  the  size  and  form  of  the  masons’  and  hewers’  tools, 
for  the  marks  of  the  chisel  and  the  pick  are  as  fresh  as  if  the  quarriers 
and  the  stone-cutters  had  just  left  their  work.  They  appear  to  have  been 
associated  in  gangs  of  five  or  six;  each  man  making  a  cutting  perpendicu¬ 
larly  in  the  rock,  four  inches  broad,  till  he  had  reached  the  required  depth; 
after  which,  wedges  of  timber,  driven  in  and  wetted,  forced  off  the  mass  of 
stone  by  swelling.  It  is  touching  to  see  that  some  blocks  have  been  only 
half  cut  away  from  their  bed,  like  the  great  stone  at  the  quarry  of 
Baalbek,  or  the  enormous  obelisk  in  the  granite  quarries  of  Assouan.” 
Sherds  of  pottery,  fragments  of  utensils,  and  skeletons  of  men  who  died 
probably  three  thousand  years  ago  were  found  in  the  grotto  when  it  was 
discovered;  and  niches  in  the  rock,  with  blackened  spots  above  them,  still 
remain  to  show  where  a  feeble  light  enabled  the  “slaves  of  the  lamp”  to 
prosecute  their  subterranean  labor.  In  all  probability  it  was  from  this 
quarry  that  Solomon  obtained  the  huge  stones  of  the  Temple  wall  and  of 
the  Temple  itself.  We  are  told  that  “there  was  neither  hammer,  nor  axe, 
nor  any  instrument  of  iron  heard  in  the  house  while  it  was  building,”  but 
that  the  stone  “was  made  ready  at  the  quarry”  (1  Kings  vi:  9);  and  the 
vast  quantities  of  chips  and  fragments  of  stone  found  in  the  Cotton  Grotto 
show  that  the  stones  taken  thence  were  dressed  before  being  removed.  It 
is  pitiful  to  think  of  the  toil  and  wretchedness  of  the  workmen — probably 
slaves — who  lived  and  died  in  darkness  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
might  rear  his  temple  to  Jehovah. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 

Divisions  of  the  City — David  Street — Street  of  the  Damascus  Gate — Street  of  the  Gate  of  David — 
The  Jewish  Quarter — Jewish  Inhabitants — Their  Habits,  Superstitions  and  Religious  Customs — 
The  Wailing  Place — Songs  of  Lamentation — The  Ashkenazim  and  the  Sephardim — The  Arme¬ 
nian  Quarter— Armenian  Street — Armenian  Monastery — Nunnery— Church  of  St.  James — English 
Bishop’s  Palace— Christ  Church — English  Hospital — Mohammedan  Quarter — Wilson’s  Arch — 
Robinson’s  Arch — The  Bazars — Via  Dolorosa — Church  of  St.  Anna — First  Station — Second  Sta¬ 
tion — Third  Station — Ecce  Homo  Arch— Valley  Street — House  of  the  Poor  Man  Lazarus — 
Fourth  Station — House  of  the  Rich  Man — Fifth  Station — Sixth  Station — St.  Veronica — Gate  of 
Judgment — Seventh  Station — Eighth  Station — Ninth  Station — Christian  Quarter— Latin  Patri¬ 
archate — Christian  Street— Pool  of  Hezekiah — Coptic  Khan — Greek  Patriarchate — The  Muristan 
— Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher — Not  the  True  Place  of  the  Sepulcher— Sketch  of  its  History — 
Detailed  Description — Ceremonies  at  Easter — The  Holy  Fire— Haram  esh-Sherif,  the  Noble 
Sanctuary — Dome  of  the  Rock — Legends  of  the  Rock — Description  of  the  Mosque  of  Omar — 
Dome  of  the  Chain— Pulpit  on  the  Platform — Throne  of  Solomon  and  its  Legend — Mosque  el 
Aksa — The  Huldah  Gate — Conclusion. 

ITHIN  the  walls,  modern  Jerusalem  is  divided 
into  five  parts.  The  most  prominent,  of  course 
is  the  Haram  esh-Sherif ,  the  Noble  Sanctuary, 
which  includes  the  whole  of  Mount  Moriah, 
and  corresponds  more  or  less  exactly  with  the 
Temple  Area  of  the  time  of  Christ.  Its  lofty 
platform  is  supported  wholly  on  the  east  and 
mostly  on  the  south  by  the  city  wall,  and  on  the 
north  and  west  by  walls  of  equal  strength.  The 
rest  of  the  city  is  divided  into  quarters  occu¬ 
pied  respectively  by  Mohammedans,  Jews, 
Armenians  and  other  Christians. 

From  the  Jaffa  Gate  David  Street  runs  eastward  through  the  city  to 
the  principal  entrance  of  the  Haram,  which  is  called  Bab  es-Silsileh ,  the 
Gate  of  the  Chain.  Another  street  called  the  Street  of  the  Damascus  Gate , 
runs  from  the  Damascus  Gate  due  south  to  David  Street;  and  almost  from 
their  point  of  intersection  a  third  street,  called  the  Street  of  the  Gate  of 

David,  runs  south  to  Zion  Gate.  Thus  the  inhabited  part  of  Jerusalem  is 

598 


* 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  601 

divided  into  four  unequal  Quarters;  on  the  southwest  is  the  Armenian 
Quarter;  on  the  southeast  is  the  Jewish  Quarter;  on  the  northwest  is  the 
Christian  (or  Frankish )  Quarter;  the  rest,  on  the  north,  the  west  and  the 
northwest  of  the  Haram  is  the  Mohammedan  Quarter. 

The  Jewish  Quarter  is  the  filthiest  and  most  wretched  part  of  a 
very  filthy  city,  and,  although  some  of  its  occupants  are  rich,  the  Jews 
of  Jerusalem  are  for  the  most  part  extremely  poor.  Nearly  all  are  for¬ 
eigners  in  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  and  have  come  to  Jerusalem  to  die 
and  be  buried  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  The  motive  which  has 
brought  many  of  them  is  that  of  deep  religious  feeling;  in  many  others  it 
is  a  superstitious  belief  that  unless  they  are  buried  in  the  Valley  of 
Jehoshaphat,  which  they  believe  to  be  the  place  of  final  judgment,  they 
will  have  to  journey  thither  underground  from  any  other  place  in  which 
their  bodies  may  be  laid.  In  a  few  cases  the  motive  is  remorse  for  sin  and 
a  desire  to  expiate  its  guilt  by  lives  of  ascetic  devotion  in  the  Holy  City. 
The  aspect  and  demeanor  of  the  Jews  is  dejected  and  sorrowful.  Their 
religious  duties  are  performed  with  pharisaical  punctiliousness.  Every 
rabbinical  tradition  is  observed.  Schools  are  kept  open  all  the  night  for 
the  study  of  the  law.  At  all  hours  of  the  day  men  may  be  found  in  the 
synagogues  absorbed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Talmud.  The  daily  evening 
services  and  sermons  in  the  synagogues  are  largely  attended.  The  Sab¬ 
bath  is  rigidly  observed,  and  the  yearly  fasts  and  festivals  are  faithfully 
solemnized.  On  the  last  day  of  the  Jewish  year,  which  occurs  in  the 
month  of  September,  they  rise  three  hours  before  sunrise  to  engage  in  an 
office  of  penitence,  in  which  every  Israelite  submits  his  back  to  a  castiga¬ 
tion  of  forty  stripes  save  one,  and  at  every  blow  these  two  verses  from  the 
Book  of  Proverbs  are  recited,  “My  son,  despise  not  the  chastening  of  the 
Lord;  neither  be  weary  of  its  correction;  for  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He 
correcteth,  even  as  a  father  the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth”  (Prov.  iii: 
ii,  12).  I  he  Passover  and  other  festivals  are  celebrated  with  expressions 
of  the  utmost  delight.  At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  booths  are  erected 
out  of  doors  and  on  the  house-tops.  At  certain  times  the  services  in  the 
synagogues  are  almost  or  quite  tumultuous,  the  whole  congregation  leap¬ 
ing,  dancing,  singing,  shouting  and  shrieking  with  a  joy  which  seems  to  be 
hysterical,  after  which  they  stream  forth  and  perambulate  their  poor 


602 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


streets  in  procession  bearing  the  Roll  of  the  Law  in  their  midst.  Such 
occasions,  however,  are  exceptional.  The  ordinary  life  of  the  Jews  is 
austere  to  sadness.  Only  the  younger  people  who  have  been  born 
there  are  bright  and  cheerful.  Their  general  appearance  is  that  of  men 

who  mournfully  realize  that 


they  are  strangers  in  their 
own  land,  and  dwelling  in 
one  filthy  quarter  of  the 
once  splendid  city  of  their 
fore-fathers. 

Forbidden  as  they  are 
to  enter  the  precincts  of 
the  Haram,  which  was  for¬ 
merly  the  glorious  enclos¬ 
ure  of  the  Temple,  they 
purchased  many  years  ago, 
and  at  a  great  price,  the 
melancholy  privilege  of 
kissing  the  stones  of  the 
ancient  Temple  wall  at  a 
place  not  far  from  th  2  Dung 
Gate  and  now  well  known 
as  the  Jews’ Wailing  Place. 
There,  every  Friday,  and 
on  other  days  as  well, 
they  can  be  seen,  clothed  in  their  quaint  garb,  bewailing  the  departed 
glory  of  Israel  and  the  Holy  City.  They  recite,  with  sorrowful  ap¬ 
propriateness  the  Seventy-ninth  Psalm: 


< 

PH 

X 

tn 

£ 

W 


“O  God,  the  heathen  are  come  into  thine  inheritance; 

Thy  Holy  Temple  have  they  defiled; 

They  have  made  Jerusalem  an  heap  of  stones!” 

Under  their  feet  seventy  feet  of  rabbish  have  been  heaped  above  the 
street  which  once  skirted  the  Temple  wall;  but  they  love  to  lean  against 
the  courses  of  masonry  that  are  still  above  ground;  and  as  they  meditate, 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


603 


they  sit  down,  book  in  hand,  and  intone  litanies  of  touching  tenderness 
and  poesy.  One  of  them  begins  with  these  lines: 

“For  the  Palace  that  lies  waste 

We  sit  in  solitude  and  weep! 

For  the  Temple  that  is  overthrown 
We  sit  in  solitude  and  weep! 

For  the  walls  that  are  cast  down 

We  sit  in  solitude  and  weep! 

For  the  mighty  stones  that  are  turned  to  dust 
We  sit  in  solitude  and  weepl 
For  our  glory  that  is  clean  vanished  away 
We  sit  in  solitude  and  weep!” 

Here  and  elsewhere  in  the  Holy  Land  the  Jews  are  of  two  classes, 
the  Ashkenazim  and  the  Sephardim.  The  Ashkenazim  are  mostly  Poles 
and  Germans,  and  are  under  the  protection  of  their  representative  con¬ 
suls;  the  Sephardim  are  from  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  speak  a  corrupt 
dialect  of  Spanish,  but  are  Turkish  subjects.  These  two  classes  of  Jews 
have  separate'  places  of  worship,  but  their  numerous  synagogues  are  not 
remarkable. 

The  extreme  southeastern  part  of  the  Jewish  Quarter,  near  the  Dung 
Gate,  is  occupied  by  the  Moors,  and  surpasses  even  the  rest  of  the 
quarter  in  filth.  In  this  district,  and  only  about  fifteen  yards  from  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  Haram  wall,  is  Robinsons  Arch ,  so  called  from  Dr. 
Robinson,  its  discoverer.  It  is  part  of  an  immense  bridge,,  fifty  feet  in 
width,  which  once  spanned  the  Tyropeon  Valley,  and  united  the  Temple 
platform  with  Mount  Zion.  It  contains  stones  of  10  and  26  feet  in  length, 
but  unfortunately  only  three  courses  are  now  distinguishable,  and  excava¬ 
tions  made  on  the  opposite  side,  anciently  called  Xystus ,  have  not  yet  dis¬ 
covered  the  corresponding  part  of  the  bridge. 

As  its  name  denotes,  the  Armenian  Qiiarter  is  chiefly,  though  not 
exclusively,  occupied  by  Christians  of  the  Armenian  Church.  The 
garden  belonging  to  the  Armenian  Monastery  runs  all  along  the  west  wall 
of  the  city  from  the  barracks  to  the  southwest  angle,  and  thence  east¬ 
ward  to  the  Gate  of  Zion,  but  to  this  beautiful  enclosure  visitors  are  rarely 
admitted,  and  then  with  great  reluctance.  In  going  northward  from  Zion 
Gate  to  David  Street  along  the  narrow  Armenian  Street  we  first  pass  the 


604 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


Armenian  Hospice  on  the  right,  northeast  of  which,  on  the  supposed  site 
of  the  House  of  Annas,  is  an  Armenian  Nunnery.  North  of  these  is  the 
great  Armenian  Monastery  in  which  the  Patriarch  of  that  rite  has  his 
residence.  The  church  is  built  on  the  spot  where  St.  James  the  Great,  to 
whom  it  is  dedicated,  is  said  to  have  been  beheaded.  Its  walls  are  lined 
with  porcelain  tiles,  and  it  contains  some  pictures  of  little  merit. 

North  of  the  Armenian  buildings,  east  of  the  Tower  of  David,  prob¬ 
ably  on  the  site  of  Herod’s  Palace  and  his  famous  garden,  is  the  Palace 
of  the  English  Bishop,  and  near  by  are  Christ  Church  with  its  Clergy 
House.  Adjacent  to  the  Citadel  is  the  English  Hospital,  These  build¬ 
ings  were  erected  at  an  enormous  expense  on  account  of  the  depth  of 
rubbish  to  be  removed  before  a  solid  foundation  could  be  reached.  Shafts 
had  to  be  sunk;  thirty-nine  feet  before  the  rock  was  found,  and  the  cubical 
contents  of  the  foundation  of  the  church  alone  amounted  to  70,000  feet  of 
masonry.  This  and  other  similar  facts  go  to  prove  that  there  was  origin¬ 
ally  in  this  part  of  Zion  a  deep  ravine  running  down  to  the  Valley  of 
Gihon. 

In  Jerusalem,  and  generally  throughout  the  East,  the  Armenian  com¬ 
munity  is  small  but  wealthy.  The  means  of  their  people  permitting  them 
to  travel,  the  number  of  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  City  is  large  in  comparison 
with  the  number  of  the  adherents  of  their  communion.  The  spacious 
monastery  furnishes  them  with  ample  accommodations  in  “a  fair  place” 
on  the  Hill  of  Zion,  the  fairest  place,  indeed,  of  all  Jerusalem. 

The  Mohammedan  Quarter  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  other  three 
together,  but  it  is  by  no  means  exclusively  occupied  by  Mohammedans. 
It  contains  several  mosques,  barracks  for  cavalry  and  for  infantry,  the 
public  prison,  and  the  official  residence  of  the  Pasha.  In  the  Street  of 
the  Damascus  Gate,  which  divides  the  Mohammedan  from  the  Christian 
Quarter,  are  the  principal  bazaars.  Its  most  notable  antiquity  is  Wilson’s 
Arch,  but  to  Christians  by  far  the  most  interesting  object  in  this  Quarter 
is  the  Via  Dolorosa,  or  Way  of  Sorrows,  along  part  of  which  it  is  as  cer¬ 
tain  as  it  well  can  be  that  our  Saviour  passed  on  His  way  from  the  judg¬ 
ment  seat  of  Pilate  to  the  place  of  His  crucifixion.  After  indicating  the 
locality  of  most  of  the  places  just  mentioned  we  may  dwell  a  little  more  at 
length  on  the  bazaars  and  the  Via  Dolorosa. 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  605 

At  the  eastern  end  of  David  Street,  directly  under  the  Gate  of  the 
Haram,  called  the  Gate  of  the  Chain,  is  Wilson’s  Arch,  which  once  afforded 
a  passage  across  the  Tyropeon  between  the  Temple  and  Mount  Zion.  This 
bridge,  though  now  buried  under  fifty-five  feet  of  rubbish,  is  absolutely 


JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE  IN  JERUSALEM. 

perfect.  Its  masonry  is  of  the  same  character  as  that  of  the  foundation 
wall  of  the  Haram,  and  is  undoubtedly  of  the  age  of  Herod.  Like  Robin¬ 
son’s  Arch,  it  springs  from  the  foot  of  the  Haram  wall,  and  as  its  stones 
are  of  the  same  character,  it  may  be  inferred  that  Robinson’s  Arch  was 


6o6 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


either  a  copy  or  duplicate  of  this.  Its  span  is  forty-two  feet,  semi-circular 
and  perfect,  composed  of  twenty-five  courses  or  tiers,  twelve  on  each  side 
of  the  key-stone.  “It  is  by  far  the  most  impressive  specimen  of  Roman 
architecture  yet  discovered  in  Jerusalem.”  The  descent  to  it  is  trouble¬ 
some,  and  the  space  within  the  arch  can  be  satisfactorily  illuminated  only 
with  calcium  or  magnesium  lights. 

Somewhat  to  the  northwest  of  the  Gate  of  the  Chain  is  the  Hammam 
esh-Shifa ,  already  mentioned  (p.  338)  as  the  conjectured  Pool  of  Beth- 
esda.  Due  north  of  the  same  bridge  are  the  cavalry  barracks,  west  of 
which  is  the  Pasha's  residence;  and  adjacent  to  the  west  wall  of  the  Haram 
at  its  northern  end  is  the  prison. 

The  bazaars  of  Jerusalem  are  situated  in  the  Street  of  the  Damascus 
Gate  and  extend  from  David  Street  northward.  They  are  simply  three 
arched  lanes  lighted  only  from  the  top.  The  western  lane  is  occupied  by 
butchers’  stalls,  the  proprietors  of  which  noisily  proclaim  the  merits  and 
cheapness  of  their  meats  to  every  possible  purchaser.  The  variety,  how¬ 
ever,  is  not  great,  the  animals  slaughtered  being  almost  entirely  sheep  and 
goats.  Beef  is  very  rarely  seen.  In  the  other  lanes  every  sort  of  mer¬ 
chandise  may  be  found,  but  in  no  great  abundance  or  variety.  Jerusalem 
is  not  a  point  of  distribution  of  merchandise  to  other  places,  and  its  trade 
is  altogether  local.  The  shops  are  tumble-down  concerns,  mere  holes  in 
the  arched  side  of  the  lanes,  somewhat  resembling  rough  cupboards  raised 
a  couple  of  feet  from  the  ground.  Within  they  are  rough,  unplastered,  and 
innocent  of  paint.  A  few  shelves,  hooks  and  nails  suffice  to  stow  away  the 
stock,  and  at  night  the  shop  is  closed  with  two  half-doors  fitting  loosely 
together,  and  fastened  with  an  immense  lock  so  clumsily  made  that  it 
might  be  picked  with  a  stout  knitting-needle.  In  these  dens  the  merchants 
sit  cross-legged  at  their  ease  with  their  wares  in  front  of  them:  fruiterers, 
oil,  grain  and  leather  merchants,  shoemakers,  cobblers,  tailors,  embroider¬ 
ers,  saddlers,  cotton-cleaners,  tin-smiths,  pipe-borers  and  professional  let¬ 
ter-writers.  Silks  from  Damascus  and  Aleppo,  prints  and  calico  from 
Manchester,  colored  muslin  veils  from  Switzerland  and  Constantinople, 
and  beads  from  Hebron  allure  the  women;  cutlery,  hardware,  arms,  sad¬ 
dlery,  pipes  and  fragrant  tobacco  attract  the  men;  and  the  ubiquitous 
grocer,  with  raisins,  dates  and  other  dried  fruits,  rice  from  Egypt  and  the 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


609 


Jordan,  flour  from  Galilee,  olives,  Pistachio  nuts,  walnuts,  honey,  salt,  pep¬ 
per  and  spices,  is  ready  to  supply  the  inward  wants  of  all  sorts  and  condi¬ 
tions  of  men.  At  certain  times  of  the  day  these  narrow  lanes  are  thronged 
by  a  motley  multitude  from  every  part  of  the  world.  The  noise  of  the 
shopmen  crying  their  wares,  and  the  cheapening  and  chaffering  of 
customers  is  almost  deafening;  the  air  is  fetid;  and  under  foot  the  ground 
is  slippery  with  filth.  To  go  shopping  in  Jerusalem  is  not  the  endless 
delight  that  ladies  find  it  in  more  western  lands. 

To  an  intelligent  Christian  the  Via  Dolorosa  is  one  of  the  most  deeply 
interesting  and  affecting  of  all  the  sacred  places  of  the  Holy  City.  Though 
not  a  stone  now  standing  on  either  side  of  it  may  have  been  there 
when  Jesus  walked  upon  this  earth,  and  though  every  foot  of  it  is  cov¬ 
ered  deep  with  rubbish,  so  that  modern  Jerusalem  is  almost  literally 
the  grave  of  the  ancient  city,  yet  it  is  certain  that  somewhere  along 
the  line  of  the  Via  Dolorosa  He  must  often  have  passed;  and  wherever 
may  have  been  the  place  of  His  crucifixion  (unless,  indeed,  as  Ferguson 
conjectures,  it  was  on  the  very  site 
of  the  Mosque  of  Omar),  it  was  over 
some  part  of  the  Via  Dolorosa  that 
He  went  forth  from  the  court  of 
Pilate  bearing  the  cross  on  which 
He  was  to  die.  On  the  other  hand, 
so  many  superstititious  myths  have 
been  connected  with  all  parts  of  this 
street  that  its  solemn  sacredness  is  marred  by  the  vulgarity  of  idle  and 
senseless  superstitions,  and  in  passing  through  it,  pity  and  disgust  con¬ 
tend  with  veneration. 

Entering  the  city  by  St.  Stephen’s  Gate  we  are  at  once  in  the  Via 
Dolorosa;  on  the  right  is  the  Church  of  St.  Anna,  dedicated  to  the  mother 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  was  presented  in  1856  by  the  Sultan  Abdul 
Medjid  to  Napoleon  III;  on  the  left  is  the  Pool  of  Bethesda.  Going 
westward  with  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  on  our  left,  we  come  to  the  1  urkish 
infantry  barracks  at  the  west  end  of  the  north  wall  of  the  Plaram,  stand¬ 
ing  probably  on  the  former  site  of  the  Tower  of  Antonia  and  the 
Praetorium  of  Pilate.  A  chapel  within  the  barracks  is  supposed  to  mark 


6io 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


the  First  Station  of  the  Way  of  the  Cross,  whence  Jesus  set  out  to  “the 
place  called  Golgotha.”  The  Second  Station ,  where  the  cross  was  laid 
upon  Him,  is  located  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  leading  into  the  barracks. 

Immediately  beyond  the  barracks,  but  on  the  right,  is  the  convent  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Sisters  of  Zion,  in  which  1 20  young  girls  are  educated. 
Here,  adjoining  a  church  which  is  built  partly  into  the  rock,  an  arch,  called 
the  Ecce  Homo  Arch ,  crosses  the  street,  and  is  supposed  to  mark  the  spot 
where  Pilate  uttered  the  words,  “Behold  the  Man!”  (John  xix:5).  This 
is  the  Third  Station.  The  Ecce  Homo  Arch  is  undoubtedly  modern.  In 
1856  Dr.  Robinson  was  assured  by  residents  of  the  city  that  it  had  been 
erected  within  their  own  time.  Yet  it  probably  stands  on  the  foundations 
of  a  former  arch  of  the  time  of  Hadrian,  which  may  have  had  more  than 
one  intervening  successor.  Not  a  stone  of  the  arch  was  there  when  Pilate 
said,  “Behold  the  Man!”  and  yet  the  Roman  governor’s  weak  attempt  to 
commend  Jesus  to  the  pity  of  His  persecutors,  by  exhibiting  Him  before 
them  in  the  depth  of  His  humiliation,  must  have  been  made  not  very  far 

V 

from  this  spot. 

From  the  Ecce  Homo  Arch  the  Via  Dolorosa  descends  a  short  dis¬ 
tance  to  the  Street  of  the  Valley ,  which  runs  in  a  generally  southeasterly 
direction  from  the  Damascus  Gate  to  the  Dung  Gate;  and  for  a  little  way 
the  Via  Dolorosa  coincides  with  Valley  Street.  Turning  therefore  sharply 
to  the  southeast  we  presently  have  on  our  right  the  traditional  House  of 
the  Poor  Man  Lazarus,  and  just  beyond  it  the  Fourth  Station ,  where  our 
Saviour  is  said  to  have  met  His  mother. 

A  few  steps  beyond  the  Fourth  Station  the  Via  Dolorosa  once  more 
turns  westward,  and  at  the  left  hand  corner  we  then  have  the  House  of  the 
Rich  Man  Dives.  Here  is  the  Fifth  Station ,  where  Simon  of  Cyrene  took 
up  the  cross  under  which  Jesus  had  fainted.  A  stone  built  into  the  house 
next  to  that  of  Dives  has  a  depression  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  hand 
of  Jesus! 

From  the  Valley  Street  westward  the  Via  Dolorosa  begins  to  ascend, 
and  about  one  hundred  steps  from  the  Fifth  Station  we  come  to  the  Sixth , 
where  St.  Veronica  is  said  to  have  wiped  the  sweat  from  the  brow  of  our 
Saviour,  as  He  passed,  and  to  have  received  as  her  reward  the  inestimable 
boon  of  a  portrait  of  His  countenance  imprinted  on  her  handkerchief. 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


611 


Still  ascending  to  the  street  of  the  Damascus  Gate,  we  find  at  its 
nearest  corner  on  our  right,  the  Porta  Judiciaria,  which  is  the  Seventh  Sta¬ 
tion,  near  which  Jesus  fell  a  second  time. 

Diagonally  opposite,  and  therefore  on  the  left,  and  in  the  Christian 
Quarter,  is  the  Hospice  of  St.  John,  and  thirty  paces  beyond  its  entrance, 
at  a  hole  in  the  stone  of  the 
Greek  monastery  of  St.  Cara- 
lombos,  is  the  Eighth  Station , 
where  Jesus  addressed  the 
weeping  women  of  Jerusalem, 
bidding  them  to  weep,  not  for 
Him,  but  for  themselves  and 
their  children. 

The  Ninth  Station  is  not 
far  off,  in  front  of  the  Coptic 
Monastery;  and  there  our  Sa¬ 
viour  is  said  to  have  sunk  again 
under  the  weight  of  the  cross, 
which  Simon  of  Cyrene  was 
bearing ! 

The  last  five  stations  are 
within  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  Tenth  is  where 
He  was  stripped  for  crucifixion; 
the  Eleventh,  where  the  nails 
were  driven  into  His  hands  and 
feet;  the  Twelfth,  where  the  cross  was  raised;  the  Thirteenth ,  where  He 
was  taken  down  from  the  cross;  the  Fourteenth  is  the  Holy  Sepulchre  itself. 

We  may  dismiss  these  stations  and  the  traditions  connected  with 
them  without  further  remark.  The  Via  Dolorosa  is  not  a  street  in  the 
European  or  American  sense  of  that  word.  To  use  the  words  of  Bartlett,  the 
author  and  artist,  “The  pavement  is  rugged  as  a  mountain  road,  and  prison¬ 
like  walls  on  either  side  are  only  pierced  here  and  there  by  a  small  door¬ 
way  or  grated  window  or  jalousie.  At  twilight  the  overhanging  archways 
are  involved  in  utter  darkness;  and  unless  provided  with  a  lantern,  it  is 


50 

O 

td 

2 

in 

O 

2_ 

in 

> 

50 

O 

r 

o 

o 

2 

2 

O 

in 

O 

G 

H 

EC 


612 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


difficult  to  grope  one’s  way  without  treading  on  a  sleeping  dog  or  coming 
into  violent  collision  with  some  invisible  passenger.”  Nevertheless,  and 
notwithstanding  the  puerility  of  the  traditions  connected  with  it,  we  can¬ 
not  but  feel  with  Mr  Bartlett  that  the  Via  Dolorosa  is  “the  most  gloomily 
impressive  street  within  the  precincts  of  this  melancholy  city.” 

More  than  one  long  chapter  might  easily  be  devoted  to  churches  and 
monasteries,  Greek,  Latin,  Abyssinian  and  Coptic,  in  the  Christian  Quarter 
of  Jerusalem.  We  must  be  content  to  mention  only  the  chief  points  of 
interest. 

Entering  the  city  at  the  Jaffa  Gate  and  going  westward  along  David 
Street,  we  pass  two  streets  on  the  left,  then  a  short  lane  or  wynd,  then 
Christian  Street,  and  at  last  come  to  the  Street  of  the  Damascus  Gate, 
which  is  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Quarter.  The  first  of  these  streets 
runs  northwest  to  the  Latin  Patriarchate,  which  is  situated  near  the  wall, 
between  the  Tower  of  Goliath  and  the  Jaffa  Gate.  The  second  leads  to 
the  Casa  Nova  of  the  Franciscans. 

Christian  Street  has  the  best  shops  in  Jerusalem.  At  its  northern  end, 
less  than  300  yards  from  David  Street,  it  is  crossed  by  a  continuation  of  the 
Via  Dolorosa.  Walking  through  it  from  David  Street,  we  have  success¬ 
ively  on  our  left  the  Pool  of  Hezekiah,  the  Coptic  Khan,  the  great  monas¬ 
tery  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  residence  of  their  Patriarch,  and  on  the  right 
the  Muristan  and  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher. 

The  Muristan  is  an  open  space,  full  of  ruins,  measuring  170  yards 
east  and  west  by  150  yards  north  and  south,  once  covered  by  the  famous 
Hospital  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  The  beginning  of  that 
famous  order  was  the  charity  of  a  few  humble  monks  attached  to  a 
church  built,  A.D.,  1048,  by  Italian  merchants  in  honor  of  St.  John, 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria.  These  poor  monks,  from  their  devoted  care  of 
sick  pilgrims,  were  soon  recognized  as  a  separate  order,  and  were  called 
the  Johnites  or  Brothers  of  the  Hospital.  Later  on  they  were  constituted 
an  Order  of  Clerical  Monks,  some  of  whom  were  detailed  for  military  ser¬ 
vice,  others  for  spiritual  functions,  and  others  as  serving  brothers  to  escort 
pilgrims,  to  provide  for  their  entertainment  and  to  nurse  them  when 
sick.  Their  great  Hospice  was  founded  in  1120;  its  arched  halls  were 
supported  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  noble  columns;  and  many 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  615 

thousands  of  sick,  wounded  and  helpless  sufferers  were  tenderly  cared  for 
within  its  walls.  The  fame  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  and  the  renown  of 
their  exploits  in  Palestine,  Cyprus,  Rhodes  and  Malta,  soon  rang  through 
the  world;  but  perhaps,  if  all  were  known,  the  martial  deeds  of  the  mili¬ 
tary  monks  were  not  more  glorious  than  the  humbler  ministrations  of  the 
serving  brothers  in  the  Hospice  of  St.  John.  When  the  Christian  king¬ 
dom  of  Jerusalem  was  overthrown,  the  noble  buildings  fell  into  decay. 
Nothing  but  ruins  is  left  of  them.  Less  than  twenty  years  ago  even  the 


VIEW  FROM  A  HOUSE-TOP  IN  THE  MOHAMMEDAN  QUARTER. 


ruins  were  concealed  by  heaps  of  indescribable  filth.  In  1869  the  Sultan 
made  a  present  of  the  Muristan  to  the  Prussian  government.  It  is  said 
that  he  had  previously  made  a  present  of  it  to  the  French  government! 
Neither  of  them,  however,  seemed  to  care  much  for  the  gift  until  after  the 
battle  of  Sedan,  when  the  French  Consul  at  Jerusalem  thought  it  might 
be  well  to  raise  the  French  flag  over  the  property.  Accordingly,  he  repaired 
to  the  spot  for  that  purpose,  and  found,  to  his  chagrin  and  dismay,  that  the 
Prussian  flag  had  just  been  raised  over  it  by  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick, 
afterward  Emperor.  1  he  Prussians  had  the  Muristan  thoroughly  cleansed 


6i6 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


of  the  filth  with  which  it  was  covered,  leaving  the  ruins  to  tell  their  own 
tale  of  departed  grandeur.  Where  the  former  building  stood  may  now 
be  seen  fragments  of  columns  eloquent  in  their  decay,  patches  of  flowering 
beans,  straggling  branches  of  prickly  pear,  and  here  and  there  a  few  scat¬ 
tered  fig-trees.  The  entrance  is  through  a  gateway,  surmounted  with  the 
Prussian  eagle,  over  the  arch  of  which  there  once  were  carvings  of  the  sea¬ 
sons,  now  defaced,  representing  groups  of  sowers,  reapers,  pruners,  threshers 
and  other  agricultural  laborers.  On  the  east  side  of  the  Muristan,  a  name 
which  signifies  Hospital  and  keeps  alive  the  fragrant  memory  of  its  early 
history,  is  a  Prussian  church,  school,  hospital  and  parsonage.  At  the  south¬ 
west  corner  is  the  Greek  monastery  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  On  the  west 
side  is  the  Bath  of  the  Patriarch  (p.  337).  On  the  north  is  a  mosque 
named  in  honor  of  Omar  and  the  Greek  monastery  of  Gethsemane. 

North  of  the  Muristan  is  the  most  interesting  building  in  the  Christ¬ 
ian  Quarter,  to  hundreds  of  millions  of  Christians  the  most  sacred  build¬ 
ing  in  the  world — the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  Properly  told,  its  his¬ 
tory  would  be  the  history  of  Christianity  from  the  fourth  century  to  the 
present  time.  It  has  witnessed  those  vast  changes  which  have  altered  the 
face  of  Europe  and  Asia,  from  the  time  when  Roman  legions  could  be  sent 
from  Britain  to  Parthia  until  now,  when  an  old  man  in  the  Vatican  is  the 
only  visible  link  connecting  ancient  Rome  with  modern  Italy.  Around  it 
have  been  marshaled  armies  from  the  east  and  from  the  west.  Emperors 
of  Rome  and  Byzantium,  Caliphs  of  Bagdad  and  Damascus,  Sultans  of 
Egypt,  Crusader  Kings,  Saracen  heroes  and  Turkish  marauders  have  in 
turn  ravaged  and  adorned  it.  Christian  sects,  Greek,  Syrian,  Roman  and 
Armenian,  have  intrigued  and  fought  for  the  possession  of  it.  Standing  as  a 
witness  to  the  great  facts  of  a  universal  faith,  it  has  been  desecrated  by 
the  blood  of  Christians  shed  by  Christian  hands;  and  to  this  very  day 
the  supposed  scene  of  Christ’s  resurrection  is  yearly  profaned  by  a  pre¬ 
tended  miracle. 

We  have  here  to  do  with  hardly  any  of  these  high  topics  of  history. 
For  the  present  purpose  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  must  suffice.  Perhaps  we  ought  rather  to  say  the  Churches  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  for  at  least  four  have  successively  stood  on  sub¬ 
stantially  the  same  spot,  and  the  present  edifice  is  really  a  double  build- 


THE  MURISTAN. 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  619 

ing  including  within  one  area  the  Sanctuary  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  a 
Crusading  church  over  the  supposed  scene  of  the  Crucifixion,  and  two 
other  minor  chapels. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  cannot 
possibly  be  on  the  true  spot  of  the  entombment  of  Christ  unless,  in  the 


“AND  HE,  BEARING  HIS  CROSS,  WENT  FORTH.”  (JOHN  XIX:  17.) 

time  of  Christ,  that  spot  was  outside  the  north  wall  of  Jerusalem.  The 
walls  of  the  city  were  wholly  demolished  by  Titus,  and  the  line  of  the 
north  wall  cannot  now  be  certainly  ascertained.  Some  topographers  posi¬ 
tively  maintain  that  it  corresponded  in  certain  parts,  especially  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Damascus  Gate  and  Herod’s  Gate,  with  the  present 
north  wall.  Others  as  positively  maintain  that  its  course  must  have  been 
on  the  north  of  the  Hill  of  Zion  at  the  line  of  the  west  branch  of  the 
Tyropeon  Valley  (p.  289),  which  would  leave  the  site  of  the  Church  of  the 


620 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


Holy  Sepulcher  without  the  wall.  Perhaps  the  strongest  evidence  in 
favor  of  the  latter  theory  is  the  fact  that  on  the  north  of  the  church  the 
rubbish  is  of  much  less  depth  than  on  the  south,  which  would  naturally  be 
the  case  if  the  second  wall  ran  south  of  the  spot.  However  that  may  be, 
there  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  this  place  was  connected  with  the 
Sepulchre  of  Christ  by  any  early  Christian  tradition;  and  the  story  of  the 
‘'Invention"  or  discovery  of  the  True  Cross  (p.  310)  implies  that  its  dis¬ 
covery  there  was  unexpected  as  well  as  miraculous.  The  first  Church  of 
the  Sepulcher  was  called  the  Anastasis ,  or  Church  of  the  Resurrection, 
and  was  erected  in  336.  It  was  an  octagonal  rotunda  in  which  were 
twelve  statues  of  the  Apostles  surrounding  the  Sepulchre,  and  at  the  east 
was  a  lofty  colonnade.  At  the  same  time  and  to  the  east  of  the  Anastasis 
was  erected  the  Basilica  of  the  Cross  over  the  supposed  site  of  Golgotha, 
with  open  courts  on  the  north  and  south  and  with  a  fore-court  and  propyl- 
aeon  or  pillared  porch  covering  the  entrance  to  three  grand  portals  on  the 
east.  The  view  of  these  buildings  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  must  have 
been  magnificent. 

The  Anastasis  and  Basilica  of  Constantine  were  destroyed  by  the 
Persians  in  614,  and  between  616  and  626  they  were  replaced  by  Mo- 
destus,  Abbot  of  the  Monastery  of  Theodosius,  with  three  buildings — the 
Anastasis,  or  Church  of  the  Resurrection;  the  Martyrion,  or  Church  of 
the  Cross;  and  the  Church  of  Calvary.  In  the  following  fifty  years  a 
fourth  Church  of  St.  Mary  was  added  on  the  south;  but  these  buildings 
were  much  inferior  to  the  previous  buildings  of  Constantine.  In  936  and 
again  in  969  they  were  partly  destroyed  by  fire,  and  in  1010  they  were 
desecrated  and  almost  destroyed  by  the  Moslems. 

In  1055  a  substantially  new  church  was  erected  and  in  1099  the 
dome  of  the  Sepulcher  was  solemnly  entered  by  the  Crusaders  walking 
barefoot  and  chanting  appropriate  psalms  and  litanies. 

This  edifice,  however,  was  not  sufficently  magnificent  for  the  Crusad¬ 
ers,  and  early  in  the  twelfth  century  one  large  church  was  built,  including 
the  Sepulcher  and  all  the  other  chapels  under  one  roof.  In  outline  it  was 
substantially  the  same  as  the  present  building,  but  it  has  passed  through 
so  many  vicissitudes,  and  has  had  so  many  additions  and  alterations,  that 
it  cannot  be  recognized  as  belonging  architecturally  to  that  age.  In  1187 


THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE 


!' 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  623 

it  was  damaged  by  the  Arabs,  and  in  1244  the  Sepulchre  was  destroyed 
by  the  Kharezmians;  but  before  1310  it  had  been  magnificently  restored, 
and  not  much  later  two  domes  were  added  to  that  of  the  Sepulchre.  Ia 
the  following  centuries  the  dome  of  the  Sepulchre  became  dangerously 
insecure,  and  in  1719  it  was  restored  and  the  greater  part  of  the  church 
was  rebuilt,  but  not  without  violent  opposition  from  the  Moslems.  In 
1808  occurred  a  great  disaster.  The  whole  building  was  almost  entirely 
burned  down;  the  dome  fell  in  and  crushed  the  Chapel  of  the  Sepulchre; 


HOUSE  OF  DIVES,  VIA  DOLOROSA. 

the  columns  of  the  rotunda  cracked;  the  lead  on  the  roof  melted  and  ran 
into  the  interior;  hardly  anything  was  saved  except  the  eastern  part  of  the 
building.  Among  other  losses,  the  sarcophagi  of  the  Crusading  Kings  of 
Jerusalem,  including  that  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  which  had  been  depos¬ 
ited  under  the  spot  where  the  Cross  is  said  to  have  stood,  disappeared. 
The  Greeks  now  secured  the  chief  right  to  the  edifice,  and,  with  the  aid  of 
the  Armenians,  they  reared  the  present  structure.  It  was  designed  by  a 
certain  Komnenus  Kalfa  of  Constantinople,  who  religiously  preserved  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  previous  edifice. 


V 


624  MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 

After  this  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Church  of  the  Sepulchre 
we  may  now  examine  its  details,  remembering  always  that  it  includes  four 
once  separate  parts,  the  Dome  over  the  Chapel  of  the  Sepulchre,  the  Cru¬ 
sader’s  Church  of  the  Cross,  the  Chapel  of  Helena  (where  the  Cross  was 
found)  and  the  Calvary. 

The  entrance  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  from  the  south, 
through  a  quadrangle  or  fore-court  which  is  several  steps  below  the  street 
and  not  quite  level.  To  the  right  and  left  of  the  court  are  chapels  of  no 
great  importance. 

The  first  door  on  the  right  opens  into  a  long  passage  which  goes  round 
the  chambers  and  offices  used  by  Greek  pilgrims,  and  at  its  end  a  flight 

of  eighteen  steps  leads  to  a  small 
chapel  (i)  in  the  center  of  which  a  round 
hollow  marks  the  spot  on  which  Abra¬ 
ham  laid  Isaac  for  sacrifice. 

The  second  door  on  the  right  of 
the  court  leads  to  the  Armenian 
Chapel  of  St.  James  (2),  and  the  third 
into  the  Coptic  Chapel  of  the  Arch- 
an 

dark  and  uninteresting. 

On  the  left  (or  west)  side  of  the 
gate  of  judgment,  via  dolorosa.  court  are  three  chapels.  The  first  of 
these,  dedicated  to  St.  James,  the  Brother  of  our  Lord  (4),  is  handsomely 
fitted  up.  The  second  (5)  is  dedicated  to  St.  Mary  Magdalene  and  is  said 
to  be  on  the  spot  where  our  Saviour,  according  to  tradition,  appeared  to 
Mary  for  the  third  time.  The  third  (6)  is  in  the  lowest  story  of  the  Tower, 
and  is  called  the  Chapel  of  the  Forty  Martyrs. 

The  tower,  which  originally  adjoined  the  church,  is  now  incorpor¬ 
ated,  on  different  levels,  with  the  old  Chapel  of  St.  John  and  the  rotunda 
of  the  Sepulchre.  In  its  four  sides  are  large  Gothic  window-arches,  and 
above  them  were  formerly  two  rows  of  small  Gothic  windows  of  which  only 
one  has  been  preserved.  Though  the  upper  part  of  the  tower  has  been 
destroyed,  the  remainder  is  extremely  interesting,  since  it  is  the  only  part 


gel  Michael  (3),  both  of  which  are 


* 


itJMIlfl 


$§§||I 


',  ,  M 

W?!ln 


4  ■  -*?.* 

ipXfl 

mifmm 

nmLi 

T 

1 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE 
(In  the  center  is  the  Stone  of  Unction.) 


■ 

a 


<1 


' 


- 


■ 

,P 


- 


■m 


'  V1 

. 


- 


i 


" 

3 


. 


s 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  627 


of  the  structure  which  undoubtedly  dates  from  the  Crusaders.  It  was 
built  between  1160  and  1180. 

The  south  facade  of  the  church  on  the  right  of  the  tower  is  not  im¬ 


posing.  It  has  two  portals,  one  of  them  built  up  with  Gothic  arches  so 
depressed  as  to  be  almost  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  over  each  of  them. 
In  the  space  between  the  doors  and  the  arches  are  sculptures  in  foxs-relief. 


THE  BURIAL  OF  JESUS.  (JOHN  XIX:  41,  42.) 

Entering  by  the  portal  on  the  left,  we  pass  through  the  place  of  the 
Turkish  guard  (7),  where  the  soldiers  may  usually  be  found  regaling 
themselves  with  pipes  and  coffee.  Here,  down  to  the  present  cen¬ 
tury,  every  pilgrim  was  compelled  to  pay  a  heavy  tax  to  the  Turkish  gov¬ 
ernment. 

Passing  the  guard,  we  reach  (8)  the  Stone  of  Unction,  on  which  the 
body  of  Jesus  was  laid  by  Nicodemus  and  Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  when  “they 


628 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


wound  it  in  linen  clothes,”  “after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,”  with  “a  mixture 
of  myrrh  and  and  aloes,  about  an  hundred  pounds  weight.”  Before  the 
Crusades  the  Church  of  St.  Mary,  which  was  somewhat  to  the  south  of  this 
spot,  was  supposed  to  cover  the  place  of  the  Anointment;  but  when  all 
the  Holy  places  connected  with  the  Sepulchre  were  enclosed  within  one 
building,  the  tradition  was  accommodated  to  architectural  necessities  The 


“WHY  SEEK  YE  THE  LIVING  AMONG  THE  DEAD?”  (LUKE  XXIV:  5.) 


Stone  has  often  been  changed,  and  in  different  ages  has  been  in  custody  of 
different  religious  communities.  It  is  still  regarded  with  the  utmost  vene¬ 
ration,  and  in  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  customary  for  pilgrims  to  measure  it, 
with  a  view  to  have  their  shrouds  made  of  the  same  length.  The  present 
stone,  which  was  placed  here  in  1808,  is  a  reddish-yellow  marble  slab,  over 
which  Greeks,  Latins,  Armenians  and  Copts  are  entitled  to  burn  their 
lamps.  Beside  it  are  candelabra  of  immense  size. 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


629 


About  sixteen  paces  to  the  left  of  the  Stone  of  Unction  (9)  is  a  small 
inclosure  round  a  stone  marking  the  spot  where  the  women  stood  and  wit¬ 
nessed  the  anointment  of  the  body  of  Jesus. 

Advancing  a  few  paces  northward  we  enter  the  rotunda  of  the  Sepul¬ 
chre  (10)  in  the  center  of  which  and  under  the  apex  of  the  dome  is  the 


PLAN  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 


Chapel  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  dome,  which  is  open  at  the  top,  is 
sixty-five  feet  in  diameter,  and  is  supported  by  eighteen  piers. 

At  the  low  door  on  the  east  of  the  chapel,  the  oriental  Christians  usu¬ 
ally  remove  their  shoes  before  entering  the  vestibule  (11)  which  is  called 
the  Angel  s  Chapel.  Its  walls  are  very  thick,  and  are  encrusted  within 
and  without  with  marble.  In  the  center  is  a  stone,  set  in  marble,  which  is 


>630 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS, 


said  to  be  the  very  stone  which  the  angel  rolled  away  from  the  Sepulchre, 
and  on  which  he  afterward  sat.  A  fragment  of  the  same  stone  is  said  to  be 
built  into  the  altar  on  the  place  of  the  Crucifixion.  In  this  chapel  fifteen 
lamps  are  kept  burning,  five  of  which  belong  to  the  Greeks,  five  to  the 
Latins,  four  to  the  Armenians  and  one  to  the  Copts. 

Through  a  still  lower  door  we  enter  the  Grotto  or  Chapel  of  the  Sepul¬ 
chre,  properly  so  called  (12),  which  is  only ‘six  and  a  half  feet  long,  six  feet 
wide  and  very  low.  The  roof  is  borne  by  marble  columns,  and  from  the 
ceiling  are  suspended  forty-three  precious  lamps,  of  which  four  belong  to 
the  Copts,  and  the  rest  are  equally  apportioned  among  the  other  three 
sects.  In  the  center  of  the  north  wall  is  a  relief  in  white  marble  repre¬ 
senting  the  Saviour  rising  from  the  Tomb,  and  on  the  same  side,  to  the 
right  of  the  entrance,  is  the  marble  tomb-stone,  five  feet  long,  two  feet 
wide,  and  about  three  feet  high,  on  which  mass  is  celebrated  daily.  Im¬ 
mediately  to  the  west  of  the  Grotto  of  the  Sepulcher  (13)  is  a  small  chapel 
which  has  belonged  to  the  Copts  since  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  the  gloomy  recesses  around  the  rotunda  only  two  places  are  of  inter¬ 
est,  the  plain  Chapel  of  the  Syrians  or  Jacobites  (14)  in  the  niche  at  the 
extreme  west,  adjacent  to  which  are  the  tombs  of  Nicodemus  and  Joseph 
of  Arimathsea  (15). 

Leaving  the  rotunda  on  the  north  we  come  to  the  place  (16)  where 
Jesus  appeared  in  the  garden  to  Mary  Magdalene.  The  spot  on  which 
Jesus  stood  is  indicated  by  a  marble  ring  (J);  the  place  of  Mary  is  marked 
by  another  ring  (M).  This  sacred  spot  belongs  to  the  Latins,  whose  altar 
is  on  the  east  (A),  and  opens  into  the  Chapel  of  the  Apparition  (17),  where 
tradition  has  it  that  our  Saviour  appeared  to  His  mother.  Immediately  to 
the  right  of  the  entrance  to  this  chapel  is  an  altar  (A)  within  which  a  frag¬ 
ment  of  the  Column  of  the  Scourging  is  said  to  be  preserved.  As  we  leave 
the  chapel  we  have  on  our  left  the  Latin  sacristy  (18),  in  which  the  sword, 
the  spurs  and  the  cross  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  are  shown.  They  are  still 
used  in  the  ceremony  of  admitting  knights  into  the  Order  of  the  Sepulcher, 
which  has  existed  from  the  time  of  the  Crusades;  but  they  are  of  doubtful 
genuineness.  The  spurs  are  eight  inches  long;  the  sword  is  two  feet  eight 
inches  long,  and  has  a  simple  hilt,  five  inches  long,  in  the  form  of  a  cross. 

We  now  leave  the  rotunda  of  the  Sepulchre  and  enter  the  old  Church  of 


UNDER  THE  DOME. 


CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE 


. 


..  m 


V1*'  i 


■ 


1 


■ 

t 


v 


■  M 


_ 

- 


Ijs  . 


■ 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


633 


the  Crusaders,  passing  under  the  lofty  Arch  of  the  Emperors  (19)  directly 
east  of  the  entrance  to  the  Sepulchre,  where  we  find  a  Greek  chapel, 
called  the  Catholicon  (20)  thirty-nine  yards  in  length  and  lavishly  orna¬ 
mented.  At  the  southeast  corner  of  the  choir  (21)  is  the  Seat  of  the  Patri¬ 
arch  of  Jerusalem,  and  at  the  northeast  corner  (22)  seats  for  other 


CHAPEL  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 


Patriarchs;  and  in  front  of  this  entrance  (23)  is  a  fragment  of  a  column 
which  is  supposed  to  mark  the  center  of  the  world!  As  is  usual  in 
Greek  churches,  the  High  Altar  (A)  is  separated  from  the  choir  by  the 
Holy  Veil  (24).  Behind  it  (25)  is  the  throne  of  the  Patriarch. 

Passing  into  the  north  aisle  (26)  we  find  at  the  northeast  angle  (27) 


634 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


a  dark  chapel  containing  an  altar,  under  which  are  said  to  be  foot-prints 
of  Christ.  These  are  questionably  shown  through  two  round  holes  in 
the  altar.  Behind  this  chapel  is  another  (28)  called  the  Prison  of  Christ, 
where  the  Saviour  was  kept  bound  while  the  cross  was  preparing. 

In  the  apse  of  the  church,  behind  the  Bema  or  Sanctuary  of  the 
Catholicon,  we  find  three  recesses.  The  first  (29)  is  called  the  Chapel  of 
Longinus,  the  soldier  who  pierced  the  Lord’s  side.  According  to  an  early 
tradition,  some  of  the  blood  and  water  spurted  into  one  of  his  eyes  which 
was  blind,  and  restored  his  sight,  whereupon  he  instantly  became  a  Chris¬ 
tian.  The  Latins  do  not  re¬ 
ceive  this  tradition,  and  their 
processions  do  not  stop  before 
the  Chapel  of  Longinus.  In 
the  center  of  the  apse  is  (30) 
the  Armenian  Chapel  of  the 
Parting  of  Christ’s  Raiment, 
and  beyond  it,  in  the  niche 
corresponding  with  that  of 
the  Chapel  of  Longinus  (31) 
is  the  Chapel  of  the  Derision 
or  the  Crowning  with  Thorns. 
Here  we  are  shown  the  Col¬ 
umn  of  the  Derision,  to  which 
Christ  was  bound  during  the 
mockery  of  the  Roman  soldiers. 

Between  the  two  chapels 
last  named  a  stairway  of 
twenty-five  steps  descends  to 
the  Chapel  of  Helena  (32).  An  altar  on  the  northeast  (33)  is  dedicated  to 
the  penitent  thief ;  the  altar  in  the  middle  (34)10  the  Empress  Helena.  On 
the  right  (35)  a  chair  is  shown  in  which  the  Empress  sat  during  the 
search  for  the  Cross. 

A  flight  of  thirteen  more  steps  leads  into  the  Chapel  of  the  Invention 
(discovery)  of  the  Cross  (36).  It  is  entirely  modern.  Mass  was  said  in 
it  tor  the  first  time  in  1857. 


OF  THE  HARAM 


Z 

n 

f 

o 

U) 

C 

w 

M 


WSP 

Mill 


mt0l 


fgm 

■u  s  •. 

liiiiill# 

,  >  ^.*  ■ 


1  -, _ 

lli&i 


a ->?’■.  i 

i— 


glgBH 


■rnmm 


"  .  T 

w^w&Si&m 


|U|Hi 


allEMlfl 

Jf'.  •  " 

•Ml  '•  ■"  .\f.SV 


I 


1 


. 

. 

. 


*  - 

4 

*  *  'V  a 

- 

. 

'  '  _ 

. 


,4  .  --  ,  ,  9M  U  I 

' 

‘ 


-c* 

■ 


‘ 

:’;J 


. 

. 


. 


: 


1 


,  J 

'  -  . 

' 


' 


„  m.  r  « 

i 

9 


-  j 


•/  $ 


i 

-  ^  a 

.  *v 


- 


■ 


:  -. 

* 


'  B 


_ 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  637 

We  have  now  only  to  visit  Golgotha.  To  reach  it  we  mount  the 
stairs,  turn  to  the  left  and  walk  round  the  apse  of  the  church  southward 
until  we  reach  a  passage  on  the  left  which  leads  to  Golgotha,  fifteen  feet 
above  the  Church  of  the  Sepulchre.  There  we  find  a  chapel  (37)  called 
the  Chapel  of  the  Raising  of  the  Cross,  belonging  to  the  Greeks.  It  is 
forty-two  feet  long  and  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  in  the  apse  is  shown  the  hole 
of  the  Cross  (38),  an  opening  faced  with  silver,  in  which  the  cross  is  said  to 


PULPIT  IN  THE  HARAM  ESH-SHERIF. 


have  been  inserted.  On  either  side,  five  feet  distant  from  the  Cross  of 
the  Redeemer,  are  the  places  where  the  two  thieves  were  crucified.  That 
on  the  north  is  the  place  of  the  penitent.  Less  than  five  feet  from  the 
cross  of  Jesus  is  the  cleft  in  the  Rock  mentioned  in  Matt,  xxvii:  51.  It  is 
covered  with  brass  grating,  above  which  is  a  slide  of  the  same  metal.  This 
chapel  is  sumptuously  ornamented  with  paintings  and  mosaics. 

In  an  adjoining  chapel  (39)  is  the  supposed  place  of  the  nailing  of  the 
cross,  and  separated  from  this  chapel  only  by  two  pillars  is  another  much 
smaller  and  simpler  chapel,  belonging  to  the  Latins,  which  is  called  the 


638 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


Chapel  of  Mary  or  the  Chapel  of  the  Agony  (40).  It  is  only  thirteen  feet 
long  and  nine  and  a  half  wide,  but  is  richly  decorated.  The  altar-piece 
represents  Christ  on  the  knees  of  His  mother. 

We  again  descend  the  stairway  to  a  chapel  immediately  under  the 
Chapel  of  the  Raising  of  the  Cross.  This  is  called  the  Chapel  of  Adam. 
Here,  according  to  tradition,  Adam  was  buried,  and  here  his  body  rested 
until  the  Crucifixion,  when  the  blood  of  Jesus,  trickling  down  the  miraculous 
cleft  in  the  rock,  touched  his  head  and  restored  him  to  life.  A  cleft  in  the 
rock,  corresponding  to  that  in  the  chapel  above,  attests  to  the  truth  of 
the  legend.  It  is  said  that  from  this  tradition  comes  the  usual  painting  of 
a  skull  at  the  foot  of  the  cross. 

However  much  we  may  dislike  the  superstitious  traditions  attached  to 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  however  thoroughly  we  may  be  per¬ 
suaded  that  it  does  not  cover  the  place  of  our  Lord’s  death,  burial  and 
resurrection,  it  is  hardly  possible  for  a  Christian  to  visit  it  without  becom¬ 
ing  so  saturated  with  the  thoughts  which  it  suggests  as  to  be  moved  to 
involuntary  veneration.  The  most  resolute  Protestants  have  felt  the  influ¬ 
ence  and  confessed  the  spell  it  has  thrown  over  them,  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  many  persons  who  have  maturely  pronounced  against  the  genuine¬ 
ness  of  the  site  of  the  sepulchre  have  gradually  changed  their  opinion 
after  a  long  residence  in  Jerusalem.  In  such  cases  it  is  surely  not  the  wish 
nor  the  judgment,  but  the  mysterious  influence  of  association  which  is 
father  to  their  ultimate  conviction. 

The  ceremonies  of  the  oriental  and  Latin  Christians  at  the  Church  of 
the  Sepulchre  are  endless  alike  in  number  and  variety.  Some  of  the  least 
edifying  have  been  gradually  discussed.  In  former  times  the  Latin  Patri¬ 
arch  used  to  represent  on  Palm  Sunday  the  entry  of  Christ  “riding  on  an 
ass  and  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass.”  Now  the  Latins  send  to  Gaza  for  palms 
which  are  blessed  on  that  day  and  distributed  to  the  people.  On  Maunday 
Thursday  the  ceremony  of  “washing  the  feet”  is  performed  by  the  Latins; 
and  on  the  corresponding  day  of  the  Greek  calendar  the  Greeks  perform 
a  similar  rite.  The  most  disgraceful  performance,  in  which  the  Latins 
once  participated,  is  now  confined  to  the  Greeks  alone.  It  is  the  recep¬ 
tion  of  the  Holy  Fire  which  is  supposed  to  be  sent  from  heaven  into  the. 


MOSQUE  OF  OMAR. 


?\ 


' 


■ 


■ 


■ 


. 


_ 


‘  —  . 


■./m 


»  '  ,  j 

- 


.. 


r^m 


I  -  *  _ _ 


. 

. 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  641 

Sepulchre  on  every  Easter  Eve.  Dean  Stanley’s  description  is  so  striking 
that  with  it  we  may  close  our  account  of  this  wonderful  temple: 

“The  time  is  the  morning  of  Easter  Eve,  which  by  a  strange  anticipa¬ 
tion,  here,  as  in  Spain,  eclipses  Easter  Sunday.  The  place  is  the  great 
rotunda  of  the  nave;  the  model  of  all  the  circular  churches  of  Europe 
especially  that  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Above  is  the  great  domA  with  its 
rents  and  patches  waiting  to  be  repaired,  and  the  sky  seen  through  the 
opening  in  the  center,  which  here,  as  in 
the  Pantheon,  admits  the  light  and  air 
of  day.  Immediately  beneath  are  the 
galleries,  in  one  of  which  on  the  north¬ 
ern  side — that  of  the  Latin  convent — 
are  assembled  the  Frank  spectators. 

Below  is  the  Chapel  of  the  Sepulchre — 
a  shapeless  edifice  of  brown  marble;  on 
its  shabby  roof  a  meager  cupola,  taw¬ 
dry  vases  with  tawdry  flowers,  and  a 
forest  of  slender  tapers;  whilst  a  blue 
curtain  is  drawn  across  its  top  to  inter¬ 
cept  the  rain  admitted  through  the 
dome.  It  is  divided  into  two  chapels — 
that  on  the  west  containing  the  Sepul¬ 
chre,  that  on  east  containing  ‘the  Stone 
of  the  Angel.’  Of  these,  the  eastern 
chapel  is  occupied  by  the  Greeks  and 
Armenians.  On  its  north  side  is  a 
round  hole  from  which  the  Holy  Fire 
is  to  issue  for  the  Greeks.  A  cor¬ 
responding  aperture  is  on  the  south 
side  for  the  Armenians.  At  the  west¬ 
ern  extremity  of  the  Sepulchre,  but 
attached  to  it  from  the  outside,  is  the  little  wooden  chapel,  the  only  part 
of  the  church  allotted  to  the  poor  Copts;  and  further  west,  but  parted 
from  the  Sepulchre  itself,  is  the  still  poorer  chapel  of  the  still  poorer 
Syrians,  happy  in  their  poverty  however  for  this,  that  it  has  probably  been 


TOMB  OF  ELIAS  IN  THE  HARAM  AREA. 


642 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


the  means  of  saving  from  marble  and  decoration  the  so-called  tombs  of 
Joseph  and  Nicodemus,  which  lie  in  their  precincts,  and  on  which  rest  the 
chief  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  whole  site. 

“The  Chapel  of  the  Sepulchre  rises  from  a  dense  mass  of  pilgrims,  who 
sit  or  stand  wedged  around  it;  whilst  round  them,  and  between  another 
equally  dense  mass  which  goes  round  the  walls  of  the  church  itself,  a  lane 
is  formed  by  two  lines,  or  rather  two  circles,  of  Turkish  soldiers  stationed 
to  keep  order.  For  the  spectacle  which  is  about  to  take  place  nothing  can 
be  better  suited  than  the  form  of  the  rotunda,  giving  galleries  above  for  the 
spectators,  and  an  open  space  below  for  the  pilgrims  and  their  festival. 
For  the  first  two  hours  everything  is  tranquil.  Nothing  indicates  what  is 
coming,  except  that  the  two  or  three  pilgrims  who  have  got  close  to  the 
aperture  keep  their  hands  fixed  in  it  with  a  clench  never  relaxed.  It  is 
about  noon  that  this  circular  lane  is  suddenly  broken  through  by  a  tan¬ 
gled  group  rushing  violently  round  till  they  are  caught  by  one  of  the  Turk¬ 
ish  soldiers.  It  seems  to  be  the  belief  ot  the  Arab  Greeks  that  unless  they 
run  round  the  Sepulchre  a  certain  number  of  times  the  fire  will  not  come. 
Possibly,  also,  there  is  some  strange  reminiscence  of  the  funeral  games, 
and  races  round  the  tomb  of  an  ancient  chief.  Accordingly,  the  night 
before,  and  from  this  time  forward  for  two  hours,  a  succession  of  gambols 
takes  place,  which  an  Englishman  can  only  compare  to  a  mixture  of  pris¬ 
oner’s  base,  football,  and  leap-frog,  round  and  round  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
First,  he  sees  these  tangled  masses  of  twenty,  thirty,  fifty  men,  starting  in 
a  run,  catching  hold  of  each  other,  lifting  one  of  themselves  on  their  shoul¬ 
ders,  sometimes  on  their  heads,  and  rushing  on  with  him  until  he  leaps  off, 
and  some  one  else  succeeds;  some  of  them  dressed  in  sheep-skins,  some 
almost  naked;  one  usually  preceding  the  rest  as  a  fugleman,  clapping  his 
hands,  to  which  they  respond  in  like  manner,  adding  also  wild  howls, 
of  which  the  chief  burden  is  ‘This  is  the  tomb  of  Jesus  Christ — God 
save  the  Sultan — Jesus  Christ  has  redeemed  us!’  What  begins  in  the 
lesser  groups  soon  grows  in  magnitude  and  extent,  till  at  last  the  whole  of 
the  circle  between  the  troops  is  continuously  occupied  by  a  race,  a  whirl, 
a  torrent  of  these  wild  figures,  like  the  Witches’  Sabbath  in  ‘Faust,’  wheel¬ 
ing  round  the  Sepulchre.  Gradually  the  frenzy  subsides  or  is  checked; 
the  course  is  cleared,  and  out  of  the  Greek  church,  on  the  east  of  the 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS.  643 

rotunda,  a  long  procession  with  embroidered  banners,  supplying  in  their 
ritual  the  want  of  images,  begins  to  defile  round  the  Sepulchre. 

“From  this  moment  the  excitement,  which  has  before  been  confined  to 
the  runners  and  dancers,  becomes  universal.  Hedged  in  by  the  soldiers, 
the  two  huge  masses  of  pilgrims  still  remain  in  their  places,  all  joining, 
however,  in  a  wild  succession  of  yells,  through  which  are  caught  from  time 
to  time  strangely,  almost  affectionately,  mingled  the  chants  of  the  proces- 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  CAVE  UNDER  THE  DOME  OF  THE  ROCK. 

sion — the  solemn  chants  of  the  Church  of  Basil  and  Chrysostom,  mingled 
with  the  yells  of  savages.  Thrice  the  procession  paces  round;  at  the  third 
time  the  two  lines  of  Turkish  soldiers  join  and  fall  in  behind.  One  great 
movement  sways  the  multitude  from  side  to  side.  The  crisis  of  the  day  is 
now  approaching.  The  presence  of  the  Turks  is  believed  to  prevent  the 
descent  of  the  fire,  and  at  this  point  it  is  that  they  are  driven,  or  consent 
to  be  driven,  out  of  the  church.  In  a  moment  the  confusion,  as  of  a  bat- 


644 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


tie  and  a  victory,  pervades  the  church.  In  every  direction  the  raging  mob 
bursts  in  upon  the  troops,  who  pour  out  of  the  church  at  the  southeast  cor¬ 
ner — the  procession  is  broken  through,  the  banners  stagger  and  waver. 
They  stagger  and  waver,  and  fall,  amidst  the  flight  of  the  priests,  bishops, 
and  standard-bearers  hither  and  thither  before  the  tremendous  rush.  In 
one  small  but  compact  band  the  Bishop  of  Petra  (who  is  on  this  occasion 
the  Bishop  of  ‘the  Fire,’  the  representative  of  the  Patriarch)  is  hurried  to 
the  Chapel  of  the  Sepulchre,  and  the  door  is  closed  behind  him.  The  whole 
church  is  now  one  heaving  sea  of  heads  resounding  with  an  uproar  which 
can  be  compared  to  nothing  less  than  that  of  the  Guildhall  of  London  at  a 
nomination  for  the  city.  One  vacant  space  alone  is  left;  a  narrow  lane 
from  the  aperture  on  the  north  side  of  the  chapel  to  the  wall  of  the  church. 
By  the  aperture  itself  stands  a  priest  to  catch  the  fire;  on  each  side  of 
the  lane,  so  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  hundreds  of  bare  arms  are 
stretched  out  like  the  branches  of  a  leafless  forest — like  the  branches  of 
a  forest  quivering  in  some  violent  tempest. 

“In  earlier  and  bolder  times  the  expectation  of  the  Divine  presence 
was  at  this  juncture  raised  to  a  still  higher  pitch  by  the  appearance  of  a 
dove  hovering  above  the  cupola  of  the  chapel — to  indicate,  so  Maundrell 
was  told,  the  visible  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  extraordinary  act, 
whether  of  extravagant  symbolism  or  of  daring  profaneness,  has  now  been 
discontinued;  but  the  belief  still  continues — and  it  is  only  from  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  that  belief  that  the  full  horror  of  the  scene,  the  intense  excitement 
of  the  next  few  moments,  can  be  adequately  conceived.  Silent — awfully 
silent — in  the  midst  of  this  frantic  uproar,  stands  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  If  any  one  could  at  such  a  moment  be  convinced  of  its 
genuineness,  or  could  expect  a  display  of  miraculous  power,  assuredly  it 
would  be  that  its  very  stones  would  cry  out  against  the  wild  fanaticism 
without,  and  wretched  fraud  within,  by  which  it  is  at  that  hour  desecrated. 
At  last  the  moment  comes.  A  bright  flame  as  of  burning  wood  appears 
inside  the  hole — the  light,  as  every  educated  Greek  knows  and  acknowl¬ 
edges,  kindled  by  the  Bishop  within — the  light,  as  every  pilgrim  believes, 
of  the  descent  of  God  Himself  upon  the  Holy  Tomb.  Any  distinct 
feature  or  incident  is  lost  in  the  universal  whirl  of  excitement  which 
envelopes  the  church  as  slowly,  gradually,  the  fire  spreads  from  hand  to 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  MOSQUE  EL-AKS4 


-  X 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


647 


hand,  from  taper  to  taper,  through  the  vast  multitude — till  at  last  the 
whole  edifice  from  gallery  to  gallery,  and  through  the  area  below,  is  one 
wide  blaze  of  thousands  of  burning  candles.  It  is  now  that  according  to 
some  accounts,  the  Bishop  or  Patriarch  is  carried  out  of  the  chapel,  in 
triumph,  on  the  shoulders  of  the  people,  in  a  fainting  state,  ‘to  give  the  im¬ 
pression  that  he  is  overcome  by  the  glory  of  the  Almighty,  from  whose 
immediate  presence  he  is  believed  to  come/  It  is  now  that  a  mounted 
horseman,  stationed  at  the  gates  of  the  church,  gallops  off  with  a  lighted 
taper  to  communicate  the  sacred  fire  to  the  lamps  of  the  Greek  church  in 
the  convent  at  Bethlehem.  It  is  now  that  the  great  rush  to  escape  from 
the  rolling  smoke  and  suffocating  heat,  and  to  carry  the  lighted  tapers  into 
the  streets  and  houses  of  Jerusalem,  through  the  one  entrance  to  the 
church,  leads  at  times  to  the  violent  pressure  which  in  1834  cost  the  lives 
of  hundreds.  For  a  short  time  the  pilgrims  run  to  and  fro — rubbing  their 
faces  and  breasts  against  the  fire  to  attest  its  supposed  harmlessness. 
But  the  wild  enthusiasm  terminates  from  the  moment  that  the  fire  is  com¬ 
municated;  and  perhaps  not  the  least  extraordinary  part  of  the  spectacle 
is  the  rapid  and  total  subsidence  of  a  frenzy  so  intense — the  contrast  of 
the  furious  agitation  of  the  morning,  with  the  profound  repose  of  the  even¬ 
ing,  when  the  church  is  once  again  filled — through  the  area  of  the  rotunda, 
the  chapels  of  the  Copt  and  Syrian,  the  subterranean  church  of  Helena, 
the  great  nave  of  Constantine’s  basilica,  the  stairs  and  platform  of  Calvary 
itself,  with  the  many  chambers  above — every  part,  except  the  one  chapel 
of  the  Latin  church,  filled  and  overlaid  by  one  mass  of  pilgrims,  wrapt  in 
deep  sleep  and  waiting  for  the  midnight  service. 

“Such  is  the  Greek  Easter — the  greatest  moral  argument  against  the 
identity  of  the  spot  which  it  professes  to  honor — stripped,  indeed,  of 
some  of  its  most  revolting  features,  yet  still,  considering  the  place,  the 
time,  and  the  intention  of  the  professed  miracle,  probably  the  most  of¬ 
fensive  imposture  to  be  found  in  the  world.” 

The  Haram  esh-  Sheriff  the  Noble  Sanctuary ,  is  one  of  the  most 
sacred  of  all  Mohammedan  holy  places,  ranking  next  to  the  Kaaba  at 
Mecca.  In  the  Koran  Mohammed  himself  professes  to  have  visited  it, 
and  on  that  account  it  was  for  ages  protected  from  the  profane  footsteps 
of  any  man  who  was  not  a  Moslem,  Until  the  year  1854  all  but  Moslems 


648 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 

were  rigidly  excluded;  and  it  was  only  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  that 
Catherwood  and  Arundale  succeeded  in  1833  in  making  the  first  accurate 
measurements  of  the  Haram  and  its  edifices.  Since  the  Crimean  war 
travellers  have  been  readily  admitted,  except  at  the  time  of  the  great 
Mohammedan  festivals.  The  Jews,  however,  have  never  sought  that 
privilege,  lest  they  might  ignorantly  commit  the  sin  of  treading  on  the  site 
of  “the  Holy  of  Holies.” 

In  a  general  way  the  Haram  corresponds  with  the  ancient  Temple 
Area,  but  there  is  no  certainty  concerning  the  details.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  the  Temple  stood  somewhere  in  the  southwest  angle,  and 
not  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  Kubbet  es-Sakhra ,.  or  Dome  of  the 
Rock ,  which  is  the  most  conspicuous  object  of  the  Haram.  In  the  opinion 
of  some  ingenious  topographers  the  site  of  the  latter  building  was  not  even 
included  within  the  Temple  Area,  but  was  altogether  without  the  ancient 
wall,  and  was  in  fact  the  place  of  the  Crucifixion  and  Resurrection  of 
Christ.  According  to  the  same  theory,  which  is  not  without  plausibility, 
the  Dome  of  the  Rock,  and  not  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  occu¬ 
pies  the  site  of  the  Anastasis  or  Great  Church  of  the  Resurrection  built  by 
Constantine.  Into  the  discussion  of  this  theory,  which  has  been  bitterly 
opposed,  we  shall  not  here  enter,  but  shall  confine  ourselves  to  a  brief  sur¬ 
vey  of  the  Haram  and  its  most  prominent  features. 

The  Haram  is  entered  on  the  north  by  three  gates,  and  on  the  west  by 
seven,  of  which  the  principal  is  the  Bab  es-Silseleh,  already  mentioned,  at 
the  eastern  end  of  David  Street.  Passing  that  gate  we  find  ourselves  in  an 
extensive  but  irregular  quadrangle  measuring  on  the  east  512  yards,  on  the 
west  536,  on  the  north  348,  and  on  the  south  309.  It  is  almost  level,  the 
only  exception  being  at  the  northwest  corner,  which  is  about  ten  feet  higher 
than  the  other  corners.  The  west  side  is  partly  flanked  with  houses  under 
whi*ch  are  open  arcades.  The  two  most  prominent  objects  of  the  Haram 
are  the  Dome  of  the  Rock  and  the  Mosqtie  el-Aksa. 

The  rock  over  which  the  dome  is  built  is  not  mentioned  in  Holy  Script¬ 
ure,  and  it  cannot  be  the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah,  the  Jebusite,  since  the 
Temple,  which  was  built  over  that  spot,  was  undoubtedly  to  the  south  of 
this  rock.  According  to  Jewish  and  Moslem  tradition,  however  Melchize- 
dek,  the  King  of  Salem,  offered  sacrifice  upon  it;  it  was  here  that  Abraham 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


649 


was  about  to  offer  up  his  son  Isaac,  and  the  rock  itself  was  anointed  by 
Jacob.  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  once  stood  here;  here  it  was  concealed 
by  the  Prophet  Jeremiah;  and  here,  beneath  the  Shemhamphorash,  the 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  DOME  OF  THE  ROCK. 


ineffable  name  of  God,  which  Jesus  is  said  to  have  read,  and  by  the  use  of 
which  He  had  power  to  work  miracles.  Under  the  rock  is  a  cavern  to 
which  we  descend  by  eleven  steps,  and  the  hollow  sound  under  foot  indi¬ 
cates  the  existence  of  another  cave  beneath.  In  the  cavern  places  are 
shown  where  Abraham  and  Elijah  used  to  pray,  and  where  Mohammed 


650  MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 

left  the  mark  of  his  head  on  the  rocky  ceiling.  Mohammed  declared  that 
one  prayer  offered  here  was  more  potent  than  a  thousand  offered  else¬ 
where,  and  from  this  place  he  took  his  flight  to  heaven  on  his  miraculous 
steed,  El-Burak.  As  his  body  rose  heavenward,  it  pierced  in  the  ceiling  of 
the  rock  a  round  hole  which  is  still  to  be  seen  and  is  probably  nothing  else 
than  the  opening  of  an  ancient  cistern  formerly  occupying  the  place  of  the 
present  cavern.  Ferguson,  however,  believes  the  cavern  to  have  been 
the  Sepulchre  of  Christ. 

Omitting  further  mention  of  the  innumerable  legends  connected  with 
the  rock  and  the  underlying  cavern,  we  may  now  observe  the  edifice  which 
stands  above  it  on  a  platform  ten  feet  higher  than  the  rest  of  the  Haram. 
The  Kubbet  es-Sakhra  is  a  large  and  lofty  octagon,  each  of  the  sides  meas¬ 
uring  66  feet  in  length.  The  sides  were  once  covered  externally  with 
marble,  but  the  upper  part  is  now  encrusted  with  porcelain  plates  which 
were  added  by  Soliman  the  Magnificent  in  1561.  On  four  of  the  sides  are 
gates  with  porticoes,  above  each  of  which  are  six  windows;  in  each  of  the 
other  sides  are  six  windows. 

The  interior  is  58  yards  in  diameter,  and  is  divided  into  three  concen¬ 
tric  parts  by  two  series  of  supports.  The  first  series  consists  of  eight 
piers  and  sixteen  columns,  making  with  the  outer  wall  an  octagonal 
aisle.  A  second  and  wider  aisle,  if  it  can  properly  be  so  called,  is  formed 
by  a  second  row  of  supports,  on  which  rests  the  dome  over  the  rock.  The 
pavement  of  the  interior  is  of  marble  mosaic,  covered,  in  places,  with  straw 
mats.  The  dome  is  65  feet  in  diameter  and  nearly  a  hundred  feet  high. 
It  is  made  of  wood,  and  on  the  outside  is  covered  with  lead.  The  inside 
is  covered  with  tablets  of  wood,  painted  blue,  and  richly  adorned  with 
painted  and  gilded  stucco.  The  windows  admit  a  solemn  but  insufficient 
light.  The  panes  are  not  painted,  but  are  composed  of  separate  pieces  of 
variously  colored  glass,  set  in  plaster  and  fastened  with  clamps  of  iron. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  Dome  of  the  Rock  was  originally 
a  Christian  church,  however  much  it  may  have  been  changed  in  detail 
in  later  centuries.  It  produced  on  the  Crusaders  a  profound  impression, 
and  some  of  them  believed  it  to  be  the  veritable  Temple  of  Solomon* 
The  renowned  order  of  knighthood  founded  here  was  called  the  Order  of 
the  Temple,  and  the  Dome  of  the  Rock  was  adopted  as  a  part  of  the 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


651 

armorial  bearings  of  the  Knights  Templar.  The  plan  of  the  building 
was  carried  by  the  Templars  to  Europe  and  churches  in  Metz,  Laon  and 
London  which  still  exist  owe  their  peculiar  form  to  the  model  of  the  Dome 
of  the  Rock.  At  Milan  its  polygonal  outline  is  reproduced  in  the  back¬ 
ground  of  Raphael’s  famous  Sposalizio  in  the  Brera. 

The  eastern  door  of  the  Kubbet  es-Sakhra  is  called  Bab  es-SilsBeji ,  or 
D oor  of  the  Chain ,  which  it  is  not  to  be  .confounded  with  the  outer  gate  of 
the  same  name  which  opens  from  the  city  into  the  Haram.  The  Moslem 
tradition  is  that  a  chain  was  once  stretched  across  this  door  by  Solomon, 
or  perhaps  by  God  Himself,  for  the  detection  of  false  witnesses;  and  while 
a  truthful  witness  could  safely  grasp  it,  the  touch  of  a  perjurer  instantly 
caused  one  of  its  links  to  fall.  In  commemoration  of  this  miraculous  test 
a  building,  called  Kubbet  es-Silseleh,  the  Dome  of  the  Chain ,  and  also  called 
Mekhmet  Daud ,  or  David s  Place  of  Judgment,  stands  in  front  of  the  east¬ 
ern  gate  of  the  Dome.  It  is  an  elegant  little  pavilion,  consisting  of  two 
concentric  rows  of  columns,  of  which  the  outer  forms  a  pentagon  and  the 
inner  a  hendicagon.  In  this  center  rises  a  hexagonal  drum  surrounded  by 
a  dome  which  is  surmounted  with  a  crescent. 

At  the  southeast  corner  of  the  raised  platform  of  the  dome  is  an  ele¬ 
gant  pulpit  of  marble,  recently  restored,  where  sermons  are  preached  every 
Friday  in  the  sacred  month  of  Ramadin.  It  is  a  noble  specimen  of  Ara¬ 
bian  art.  Below  the  flight  of  steps  which  rises  to  the  platform  on  the  west 
is  an  elegant  fountain-structure  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century.  In  the 
east  wall  of  the  Haram  is  the  closed  gate  called  the  Golden  Gate,  already 
described  (p.  300),  and  north  of  it  is  a  modern  mosque,  called  the  Throne 
of  Solomon ,  from  a  legend  that  he  was  found  dead  here.  It  is  said  that,  in 
order  to  conceal  his  death  from  the  demons  who  had  been  in  subjection  to 
him,  Solomon  supported  himself  on  his  seat  with  his  staff  and  it  was  not 
until  the  worms  had  gnawed  the  staff,  asunder  and  had  let  the  body  fall 
that  the  demons  knew  of  their  deliverance  from  Solomon’s  authority. 

At  the  southwest  of  the  Haram  is  the  great  Mosque  el-Aksa,  a  very 
complicated  pile  of  buildings  of  great  interest  to  the  architectural  antiqua¬ 
rian,  and  having  at  its  southeast  corner  the  Mosque  of  Omar.  It  is 
entered  by  a  porch  of  seven  arcades  opening  into  as  many  aisles  of  the 
main  building.  It  was  founded  by  the  Emperor  Justinian  as  a  basilica  in 


652 


MODERN  JERUSALEM  WITHIN  THE  WALLS. 


honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  It  has  been  repeatedly  altered,  but  the 
original  features  of  the  basilica  can  still  be  traced.  It  has  many  legends 
attached  to  it;  but  the  only  sacred  historical  spot  it  contains  is  the  Double 
Gate  (p.299)  which  is  probably  the  Huldah  Gate  of  the  Talmud.  Through 
it  we  may  safely  believe  that  our  Saviour  often  entered  the  Great  Porch 
(p.  300)  on  the  south  of  the  platform  of  Herod’s  Temple. 

Here  we  leave  the  ever  sacred  precincts  of  the  Holy  Temple.  After 

« 

our  long  journey  through  the  Beautiful  Land  of  the  Beautiful  Life,  and 
after  visiting  the  City  of  the  Precious  Death  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ, 
as  we  quit  these  hallowed  scenes,  the  last  point  on  which  our  eyes  rest  is 
the  crest  of  Olivet,  not  far  from  the  last  spot  of  earth  on  which  the 
Saviour’s  feet  stood  when  about  to  make  His  glorious  ascension. 


Watcntower 
n  the  Road  to  Wt 
Yafa  M. 


Child) 


Suburb  Neby 


E  I  K  a  I 

Girls'  School  of  the  Engl  Mi 


Latir 

Crock 
Church  of  the  Sepulchre 


Patriarchate 

Monastery 

Kaukab  Minaret 


Buildings  &  Cardens  of  the  Armenian  Monastery 

:h  of  th« 


Damascus  Cate 

n  Minaret  Consulate 


Latin  Monastery  of  St.  Salvador 

of  St  John  &  German  School 


Cate  of  Herod 


,s,on  (Towe-  o<  Oovid  Yafa  Gate 

•  Muristan  ,Gr“'k  chufCh> 


Synagogues 
of  the  Ashkenasn 


Jebel  Abu  Tor 

(  Hill  of  :  Evil  Counsel) 


Place  where  Peter 


Rosel  Mi 


Bcthleher 


* 9  *9 if  Kjii»r  v**’1 


of  tho  Rom.  Cath  Sisters  of  Zior 


Former  Serai  Barracks  Castle  of 

1  'he  Temple  Precincts  Cate  of  St.  Stephen 
Rqad  to  Geihsemane  (Bab  Sltti  Mariam) 


to  the  Gate  of  Zi 


from  Photographic  Views 


Daud 

n  t 


M  A 

from 


¥ 


* 


v  ,r 


wnMt  rfc'&ti 

f?Y^f  wj  i^-J^W^k^  *T. 

TrA.  rf3&  <4-*4&  fJVl2L^»fv  '  ■<*P4ts?'!,i&a  * 

-%}r  ^  ■ 

'  Mfa-: 

w?  #  a*i& 


■V.  1  j  :.  ',]\\ 

*J,‘ ’■■  '-:l  ■'  .  /H‘l 

^  •:•  S  ZG£ 

GAYLORD  #3523PI  Printed  in  USA 


fill 


DS107  .F97 

The  beautiful  land,  Palestine 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 

1  1012  00066 

4625 

■ilIBHmnM 


ill 


'•»-v 


tllllllll 


mr 


‘■■■I 

mtfp 


Sm* 


